◎ Shen Zhiwei
China's National Day holiday seems to be a seven-day holiday, but many workers have to sacrifice the weekends before and after to make up for work. This long holiday, which is packaged as a national celebration, not only failed to win widespread applause, but also caused some office workers to express their dissatisfaction by reducing travel, delivery and shopping. Related topics have accumulated more than 360 million times on Weibo Views and 120,000 discussions; Long holidays were originally supposed to be a time for workers to rest, spend time with their families, and recuperate physically and mentally, but now they have been transformed into a policy tool for the government to stimulate tourism and consumption. When taking a holiday, you must first exchange your own weekends. The so-called 7-day long holiday is probably just a carefully arranged numbers game.
Make up work on the weekends before and after in exchange for the National Day holiday
During the National Day holiday in China, some office workers expressed their dissatisfaction by reducing travel, food delivery and shopping. Schematic diagram. (Bloomberg file photo) Behind the dispute over time off, it reflects not only how to take holidays, but also China’s long-term accumulated labor difficulties. In recent years, economic growth has slowed down and companies have cut prices to compete. Labor has been under multiple pressures such as increased working hours, limited salary growth, layoffs and unstable employment. According to the Supreme People’s Court of the Communist Party of China, labor dispute cases accepted in the first nine months of 2025 Reaching 648,000, an increase of 37.5% over the same period of the previous year. The Chinese Communist Party authorities have long proven their governance achievements with economic aggregate, high-speed construction and scientific and technological development. However, if the growth results cannot provide workers with better treatment and rest, it is difficult to guarantee even a complete weekend. No matter how beautiful the statistics are, it will be difficult to translate into happiness that the people truly feel.
It is worth noting that a local online platform called "Saturday Holiday Shopping" once appeared, allowing consumers to inquire and support companies that truly implement two-day weekends, hoping to encourage companies to improve working conditions through purchasing options. This gentle and non-confrontational action was removed after attracting social attention. On the one hand, the Chinese Communist authorities asked the public to increase consumption and boost domestic demand. On the other hand, they are highly wary of public discussions spontaneously formed by workers. Why can even the consumer choice of supporting normal holidays be regarded as a voice that needs to be controlled? When people are unable to express their situation through independent trade unions, media or normal public participation, and can only express their dissatisfaction through "no consumption", the question is not just how to take a holiday, but whether the people have the right to speak.
Can arrange 7 days of vacation, but cannot arrange happiness
This incident also provides us with a mirror to observe China. We should not only look at the crowds, tourism revenue and consumption figures during the National Day holiday, but also whether ordinary people have the right to rest, choose and express their opinions. When the CCP promotes to the outside world, it often shows prosperous cities, huge markets and convenient construction. However, the outside world rarely lets the outside world see the low wages, overwork, and the difficulty of labor rights complaints. Real national progress does not mean that the government reassembles the original weekends into beautiful long holidays, nor does it require the people to use more consumption to prove economic prosperity, but that every worker can work and live in a dignified environment. The CCP can arrange a seven-day holiday, but it cannot arrange real happiness for the people. This is the reality behind the gorgeous propaganda that should be seen clearly.
When the CCP publicizes to the outside world, it often shows prosperous cities, huge markets, and convenient construction, but rarely lets the outside world see low wages, overwork, and the difficulty of appealing for labor rights. (Bloomberg file photo) (The author is a researcher on national defense and security issues)
