英语新闻丨Longer Spring Festival holiday elicits cheers for travel

Longer Spring Festival holiday elicits cheers for travel

Chinese people will embrace a longer Spring Festival holiday next year after the State Council released the holiday arrangement on Wednesday morning, which soon made headlines online.

根据国务院10月25日上午发布的节假日安排，全国人民将于2024年迎来一个更长的春节假期。消息发布后迅速成为热搜。

According to China's Cabinet, the Spring Festival holiday — the traditional Chinese festival for family reunions — will last eight days from Feb 10 to Feb 17. It is also encouraging government bodies and companies to give employees paid leave on Feb 9, the Eve of Lunar New Year.

春节是阖家团聚的传统中国节日。国务院消息，明年的春节将从2月10日持续至2月17日，为期8天。同时，国务院鼓励政府机关及企业于2月9日(农历除夕)批准员工带薪休假。

The holiday may be extended to nine days including the flexible one-day paid vacation, making it longer than the usual seven days of previous years.

与往年的七天假期相比，明年春节假期或将延长至九天，其中一天为弹性带薪假期。

Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, said that the arrangement is a balanced plan that can help people avoid traffic peaks, and secure a safer and better organized tourism market.

中国旅游研究院院长戴斌表示，这样的安排是平衡的，既可帮助人们避免交通高峰，又能确保旅游市场更加安全有序。

Online travel services provider Qunar said that searches for train tickets and international flights doubled on its platform in just 30 minutes after the arrangements were released. It said that some "early birds" in Shanghai and Changsha in Hunan province have made bookings on the platform.

在线旅行服务提供商去哪儿网消息，假期安排发布后的30分钟内，该平台火车票与国际航班的搜索量翻了一倍。上海和湖南省长沙的部分“早鸟”旅客利用平台完成了订票。

Travel portal Trip.com Group said that within two hours of the announcement, searches and page views on the platform more than tripled from the day before, and searches for flight tickets for the Spring Festival holiday surged by over 40 percent.

携程集团数据显示，在公告发布两个小时内，平台搜索量及页面浏览量较前一天增加了三倍以上，春节假期机票的搜索量暴涨超过40%。

"It was like a big surprise to me and to all Chinese people as we can have such a long holiday!" said Yu Jiemin, a 31-year-old from Shanghai. "Previously, the Spring Festival holiday usually lasts seven days and we spend two days traveling to the destination and returning, which means it leaves us only five days visiting family members or for leisure."

31岁来自上海的Yu Jiemin说，“这么长的假期对我和所有中国人来说都是巨大的惊喜！以往春节假期通常只有七天，出行来回花掉两天，便只剩五天时间拜访亲戚、休闲娱乐。”

She said her only wish is that her employer can let her start the holiday from Feb 9.

Yu Jiemin唯一的愿望是领导能准许她从2月9日开始放假。

"It's not a compulsory requirement for the company to extend the holiday for one more day, but we Chinese people usually spend Lunar New Year's Eve with family members just like Christmas Eve in Western countries."

她说，“公告并没有强制公司延长一天假期，但中国人习惯了和家人一起过除夕，就像西方人过圣诞节一样。”

Long-distance destinations will be popular choices, Qunar expected. It said that Sanya in Hainan province, Dali in Yunnan province and Beihai in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region are so far the most searched domestic destinations on the platform, and visa consultancy to overseas destinations including Australia, Spain and Switzerland has seen remarkable growth.

去哪儿网预计，长途旅行目的地将备受欢迎。海南省三亚市、云南省大理市及广西壮族自治区北海市是该平台目前搜索量最大的国内目的地，前往澳大利亚、西班牙和瑞士等海外目的地的签证咨询服务也呈现显著增长。

Yang Guanghui, Qunar's director of the holiday department, said: "We suggest our customers spend at most five days traveling in one single destination, and visiting two to three places if they have a break of seven to eight days. Taking the coastal province Hainan as an example, we suggest the customer spend at most five days in Sanya for a thorough trip, while he or she can book a trip to the island's Haikou, Wanning, Lingshui and Sanya using seven to nine days."

去哪儿网假期部门主任Yang Guanghui说：“我们建议旅客在某一目的地的旅行时间不要超过五天，七至八天的假期可以前往两三个地方。以沿海省份海南为例，我们建议旅客在三亚的深度游最好不超过五天，若有七至九天的时间，可以考虑前往海口、万宁、陵水和三亚。”

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Transport said small passenger cars will be able to travel toll free from Feb 9 to Feb 17.

交通运输部10月25日表示，小型客车在2月9日至2月17日期间出行免收过路费。

The ministry estimates that traffic flows nationwide will hit a new high in the coming Spring Festival due to people's stronger travel desires during the lengthened holiday.

该部门估计，明年春节假期延长后，人们的出游意愿增强，全国交通流将达到新高。

In addition to the Spring Festival holiday, the State Council also published holiday times for seven other traditional holidays in 2024, such as the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday from April 4 to 6 and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday from Sept 15 to 17.

除春节假期外，国务院还公布了2024年其他七个传统节日的假期时间，其中清明节假期为4月4日至6日，中秋节假期为9月15日至17日。

Paid leave

n.带薪休假