The first week of October is a special time for China. October 1 is marked as China’s National Day (国庆节), the public holiday on which the Chinese celebrate the foundation of the People’s Republic of China. Chinese lanterns are put up in apartments and workplaces; all workers and students have a 7-day holiday (including 3 weekdays and two rearranged weekends), which is why National Day is called a ‘golden week’ along with New Year’s Day and Labor Day. This year, China is celebrating the 66th National Day.

In ancient China, ‘National Day’ referred to an emperor’s birthday or the date of his accession to the throne. However, the date of the current holiday was determined in 1949 by the central government. This was the year when the Chinese government was officially established on October 1, with the historic ceremony remembered as “开国大典”. In the first several years the celebrations included grand ceremonies and military parades, but during the 1960s only assemblies and demonstrations were held; the celebrations continued changing and decreasing in the following decades, but to this day bigger events take place every 5~10 years. In 1999, marking the 50th anniversary of National Day, China held a large-scale military parade. Regardless of the variations, the celebration never excludes the flag hoisting ceremony. It is done annually, on 6:10 in the morning.

The week-long National Day holiday is an exciting time for many Chinese people, for it is a perfect time for having family reunions and traveling. In order to prevent traffic congestion in Shanghai, traffic control is taking place from September 30 to October 3. 113,000 passengers traveled abroad from China on September 25 and 26, which is 30% more than the normal. On September 30, report has stated that it is estimated there will be around 532 million domestic travelers, and 39 million people traveling abroad during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday. The most popular destinations are Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Southeast Asian countries, Korea and Japan.

Globally, National Day is the day that commemorates the establishment of a nation. 35 countries have set it as a national holiday.