At first glance public holidays in China appear very different to Western ones, for example mid-autumn festival and tomb-sweeping festival do not figure in the Western calendar but do so prominently in China. However, the way in which Chinese spend their time during these holidays is rather similar to the West and can be split into three categories: spending times with family; leisure and shopping; travelling and tourism.
　　Particularly in the days leading up to a public holiday, anyone who has spent time in a large city in China will probably notice that the general ‘atmosphere’of the city changes over this time. The hustle and bustle of the metropolis begin to slow down (moderately, this is China after all!) and lengthy-winding queues begin to form, stretching from the trainticket outlet all the way down to the end of the street. Likewise, train and bus stations are abnormally overcrowded as people jostle to purchase a ticket of transport by any means away from the city.
　　These sights offer startling examples not only of the volume of migrant workers in China, but also alarmingly the level dependence the metropolises rely upon them. It also illustrates the meaningfulness and purpose of national holidays, for many migrant workers these‘breaks’ might be the only times in which they are able to travel home to spend time with their parents, children and extended families. Due to the enormity of the country, the journey home can be every bit as long and uncomfortable as the aforementioned queues as some may have to take up standing positions on trains or buses for several hours at a time.
　　Some journeys can even last more than a day. This is the reason why businesses in China require staff to work on weekends before and after the public holidays. The breaks usually run Saturday to the Sunday a week later, and are scheduled to take into account the long distance the migrant workers may face so allowing them to spend almost a full week at home.
　　Visiting family is not limited to migrant workers of course, professional friends of mine tell me how much they look forward to returning to their homes, hundreds of miles away from Shanghai, and recount the enormous feasts and festivities that take place when the extended family gets together.
　　Still, by my own experience, it seems that the Chinese love to spend and shop on holidays just as much as we do back in the West. The streets may seem relatively less busy, but shopping malls and department stores overflow with custom and trade. The commercialisation of Western holidays also seems to be catching on. I was staggered to see the amount of people celebrating Christmas last year in Nanjing — you could barely move in the business hub of Xinjiekou. As a sign of China’s burgeoning middle class and the spending power they now have, one local resident explained me “Chinese people just want to have fun, they now have money and Christmas is an excuse to spend it.” I would have to agree, ‘fun’would certainly describe the light-up reindeer ears that were proving popular at the time.
　　What really emphasised that the Chinese “now have money” was that several of my colleagues used their holidays to travel the middle kingdom and abroad. Sanya, Thailand and the Philippines all proved hot destinations. This was particularly interesting as it was similar to how many Western friends chose to spend their time off, using the break as an opportunity to visit some of China’ tourist regions such as Beijing and Guilin, as well as the beach holidays mentioned above. A few even travelled back to their home countries to see their families and friends.
　　So it seems whatever the occasion, Chinese and Westerners spend their holidays in similar fashion, whether it is spending time at family banquets over Spring Festival or Christmas or visiting an exotic location and shopping mall during summer vacation, people just want to enjoy their time off work.