Many people would choose "tired" if asked to use one word to describe the just past "Golden Week" of National Day holiday because of the gridlocked traffic on the highway and the crowds of people in scenic spots. People spent a lot of money but did not enjoy a relaxing holiday. Nevertheless, the "Golden Week" was still a happy time for the majority of busy Chinese people and many people even began looking forward to the next holiday even the "Golden Week" just came to an end.

Why? The most critical reason is that Chinese people enjoy only a few holidays. According to a report from Mercer, one of the world famous human resources companies, Chinese employees have 21 days of paid and statutory holidays every year and China is one of the countries having the least holidays. Another survey showed that less than 30 percent of office workers can enjoy paid vacation in China. Under such welfare system, it is inevitable that people will choose to travel in the "Golden Week".

In view of this, the most basic solution is to implement the paid leave system as soon as possible, so that Chinese people can enjoy a more relaxed "Golden Week". Only by practical implementation of the nominal legal rights and interests can people arrange their holidays more proactively and flexibly to avoid the peak travel period. However, improving the paid vacation system cannot solve all the problems. After all, people must have both time and money to leisurely enjoy the holidays.

However, the actual situation is somewhat regrettable. In the survey of "Degree of Leisure and Satisfaction" carried out by magazine "Insight China", only 14 percent of respondents considered themselves having both time and money, 38 percent said they had neither time nor money and respondents choosing "having money but no time" and "having time but no money" account for 25 percent and 23 percent respectively. This means that besides improving the vacation system, the related departments must reform the income distribution system and let people become rich to enjoy the holidays more leisurely.

As it is unpractical to increase the number of holidays in the short term, the most realistic and efficient move at present is to fine-tune policies concerning the "golden week" and other holidays in order to meet people's needs. Fortunately, some positive signals appeared in the just ended "longest golden week in history".

The Chinese government waived expressway tolls for cars for the first time during this year's "Golden Week" holiday, which stimulated domestic travel demands and improved the public travel patterns. Nearly 200 scenic spots lowered their ticket prices before the "Golden Week", which reduced the people's travel expenses to a certain degree. Such fine-tuning and reforms have produced certain desired effects.

Having workers enjoy holidays leisurely concerns their rights and welfare. What's more, it can help unleash the country's huge domestic demand potential. Chinese workers will enjoy their holidays in a more rational and leisurely way if the government spares more efforts to implement the paid leave system, deepen income distribution reforms, and formulate more considerate public policies.

Source: People's Daily Online