Netizens support extending holiday

Beijing - The public has responded with vigorous support for an NPC deputy's proposal to extend the Spring Festival holiday from three days to 10.

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More than 78 percent of about 27,600 respondents to a poll on www.people.com.cn voted in favor of the idea of Li Jing, who is also the mayor of Meishan city in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Li said the lunar new year festival holiday was too short for family reunions, especially for the nation's 220 million migrant workers.

With hundreds of millions of people on the move during such a short time span, the holiday puts tremendous stress on the public transport system and suppresses tourism, he added.

He suggested the holiday be extended and cover the three adjacent weekends, which means the public could take a total of 16 days off and the floating population could spend the Lantern Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the lunar new year, with their families.

People would then have sufficient time to fully enjoy the traditional holiday with their families, Li said during an interview with People's Daily Online on Friday.

Most online voters agreed that extending the holiday will ease the burden on public transport and strengthen family ties.

"The Spring Festival is an occasion for family reunions and should be longer than the National Day holiday," one responder said in an online post. "Every year, I wish I could spend more time at home for the Spring Festival, but I always have to go back to work. I hope the NPC will approve this proposal."

Another online comment read: "Extending the Spring Festival holiday could prevent the annual transportation crush, which has in recent years resembled an exodus of fleeing refugees."

Most of the about 10 percent who opposed the idea cited difficulties readjusting to work after the break. Some pointed out that office morale was generally low during the first week after the holiday.

"After the six-day holiday, many people come back to work feeling absent-minded," one respondent said.

Some who opposed the extension suggested adding the Lantern Festival as an official holiday.

Another 10 percent said lawmakers should carefully study the impacts before they make any decisions on holidays.