An article in the Daily Breeze last November stated that changes in the holidays for Chinese people are another indication of how the country's economic modernization is remaking Chinese society. Most Chinese cannot take a break when they want. Rather, the Government has set aside three weeks a year as National Holidays. Factories and Offices shut down, giving many workers time off they might otherwise never get. But putting so many of the country's 1.3 billiion people on the move at one time is causing a huge national headache. Under a new proposal, the Government suggested paring the week-long May break to one day and making three new one-day holidays out of traditional celebrations. including grave-sweeping day, the dragon boat festival and the mid-autumn festival. The holiday reform debate "indicates that China's becoming a more normal country. They don't have to micro-manage everyones vacations" - according to Arthur Kroeber, director of Dragonomics. a Beijing based economics research firm.
The plan has set off a lively debate in the state-run media. Some hail the changes as a boost in traditional culture, and others say the change isn't enough. They call for the system to be scrapped completely in favor of letting people choose their own holidays.
I read articles like this and realize how much I take for granted as an American citizen!
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