National Day and Golden Week

When it is

National Day (国庆节, Guó Qìng Jié) falls on 1 October, marking the founding of the People's Republic of China by Mao Zedong on 1 October 1949. The official holiday combines with the immediate weekend to form a 7-day Golden Week (黄金周).

The flag-raising ceremony

At sunrise on 1 October, a high-ceremony flag-raising takes place at Tiananmen Square. The People's Liberation Army honour guard performs the ceremony; tens of thousands of spectators arrive overnight to secure positions.

For visitors who want to attend: - Arrive before midnight; security cordons close as the crowd reaches capacity. - Bring layered clothing — pre-dawn Beijing in October is cold. - Photography from the crowd is fine; you won't get a clear front view. - For a calmer alternative, the daily flag-raising at Tiananmen at sunrise happens 365 days a year; non-festival days are far more accessible.

Major events

• Tiananmen flag-raising at sunrise.
• Major-anniversary parades on round-number anniversaries (50th in 1999, 60th in 2009, 70th in 2019, 75th in 2024). On non-parade years, the day is more low-key.
• Beijing fireworks in the evening at Olympic Park.
• Decorative public flowers along major boulevards in cities.
• Domestic tourism peaks as the entire country travels.

Travel impact — the worst week of the year

The 7-day Golden Week is, by virtually every measure, the most challenging week of the year for tourism in mainland China:

• Trains and flights book out 30+ days in advance; prices double or triple.
• Tourist sights are heaving. The Forbidden City typically caps at its 80,000 daily visitors; the cap is reached by 9am. The Great Wall, Mt Huangshan, West Lake, the Bund, Yu Garden — all dense with domestic tour groups.
• Hotel rates spike 50–100% in tourist cities; major-city business hotels stay normal.
• Service quality drops in over-booked restaurants and attractions.

If you're visiting China, do NOT plan to be in major tourist cities during Golden Week. Tier-1 city business districts are functional (and quieter than usual as residents have left), but the tourist circuit is at peak chaos.

Where to be (if you must be in China during Golden Week)

• Tier-1 city business districts (CBD areas) — surprisingly calm.
• Hong Kong and Macau — they don't observe Golden Week the same way.
• Tier-3 cities and rural areas not heavily marketed for tourism — calmer.
• Yunnan villages, Xinjiang (with permits as needed), Tibet (with permits) — far enough out of the standard domestic-tourism pattern to be relatively manageable.

Etiquette

• The day has political weight. Don't make jokes about the PRC, the flag-raising, or the founding date in public.
• Photography of military parades is fine for the public-facing portions.
• If you're at a workplace banquet during the holiday week: standard banquet etiquette applies.