Declaration of the National Day, October 1, 1949.
“The Central People’s Government of China is the only legal government that defends all the people of China. Our government is willing to establish diplomatic relations with any foreign government that agrees to abide by the principles of equality, mutual benefit, mutual respect for territorial integrity. … »
-Chairman Mao Zedong on the announcement of the PRC People’s Central Government
The National Day of the People’s Republic of China was declared at three o’clock on October 1, 1949, in front of 300,000 people during a ceremony in Tian’anmen Square. Chairman Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People’s Republic and waved the first five-star flag of the People’s Republic of China.
Celebrating the national day
Called guoqqingjie or 国庆节 in Mandarin, the holiday celebrates the founding of the People’s Republic of China by the Communist Party. In times past, the day was marked by large political rallies and speeches, military parades, state banquets, and the like. The last major military display took place for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 2009, but parades take place in Beijing, Shanghai, and the like every year.
Since 2000, as China’s economy developed, the government granted workers and students a seven-day vacation around October 1. Generally, a seven-day period is “holidays” with one or two weekend days substituted for working days to give a seven-day holiday.
Traditions around Chinese National Day
There are no actual Chinese traditions surrounding National Day, as it is a relatively new holiday in the 5,000-year history of Chinese culture. People take vacations to relax and travel. Increasingly, as the Chinese population grows richer, lavish overseas vacations become more common. In addition, as more and more Chinese buy their own vehicles, the government cancels all tolls during the holidays and millions of families are heading to China’s new and open highways for road trips across the country.
Visiting China and traveling during national holidays
As mentioned above, with a week off, many Chinese travel domestically and internationally. What this means for visitors to China is that travel fees double and triple, and advance reservations need to be made weeks, even months before all trips.
All the most popular tourist destinations in China will be packed with tour groups. One year, the authorities had to close the entrance to one of the most famous destinations in Sichuan province, Jiuzhaigou, because the national park could not handle the number of visitors.
If you can avoid it, it is advisable not to travel in the country during the week around October 1. The latest statistics released are from 2000, but according to these, 59.82 million people traveled during the National Day holiday that year. More than two-thirds of all hotel beds were booked in major tourist destinations such as Beijing and Shanghai.
That being said, the time around the national holiday is really a lovely time to visit China. The climate is one of the mildest and is perfect for outdoor activities throughout the country. If you find that you cannot avoid traveling to China at that time, just be very clear with your agency (or keep in mind when booking a trip) that certain places will be very crowded. It is better to go to less popular areas or stay somewhere during that week of travel and relax with localized day trips. (Try Xizhou-Dali for a sample itinerary that would be suitable for this type of vacation.)
