I'd like a Golden Week

 Every year, China (and Japan - maybe others too) have a Golden Week. In China, this is a 7-8 day public holiday that was created in 2000. It turns out that there were three of them during the year: one before the Chinese New Year in Jan/Feb, one at the beginning of May and another at the beginning of October. It seems like the May one has been dropped and it just a one-day public holiday.

Three or four days of paid holiday are given, and the surrounding weekends are re-arranged so that workers in Chinese companies always have seven or eight continuous days of holiday. These national holidays were first started by the government for the PRC's National Day in 1999 and are primarily intended to help expand the domestic tourism market and improve the national standard of living, as well as allowing people to make long-distance family visits. The Golden Weeks are consequently periods of greatly heightened travel activity.

What a great idea!

Instead of itsy-bitsy public holidays and long weekends, how good would it be if everyone took a week off.

Of course, we have the experience now from the five weeks of Level 5 lockdown where email and phones went quiet.

For work, we interact with China and we know to make our plans to fit in with Chinese New Year, when the country almost closes down for a month, and then again like with this Golden Week.

What I most enjoyed about the lockdown was that I could take a break and not be in an anxious sweat during this time about answering emails and getting back to people. This is what I absolutely hate about being away even for a day - I just can't keep up and then I'm behind. Being away for a few days has nme feverish on return. But, if everyone is on holiday and everyone else knows that the business is closed for a week, well, no emails, and no during and post-holiday stress.

The only downside to the Golden Week, which has created some controversy, is potential for overcrowding at much-visited locations. The other downside is that you get two main holiday periods for everyone instead of shorter breaks throughout the year.

Personally, I'd like a balance with one Golden Week and then a smattering of public holidays to achieve a fine balance.