As the Chinese Lunar New Year is drawing near, many are easily distracted by thoughts of impending visits to friends and family, as well as the chance to take a break after a year's worth of work.

But many were disappointed with the announcement from the General Office of the State Council last December that the holiday this year would begin on February 18, bypassing the night before, essentially New Year's Eve.

"For all Chinese people, New Year's Eve is as important as New Year's Day, so the official New Year holiday should include New Year's Eve as well," Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Member Feng Shilian proposed at the Liaoning Province Political Consultative Conference, Xinhua reported at the end of January.

The political consultant said people want to leave early to make it home for the biggest festival of the year in China. According to Feng, for years some government institutions and companies in the province had 'secretly' added the extra day to the holiday and urged that the extra day be made part of the official holiday.

Feng said the New Year Eve-free holiday blocks the way for people to burn off their pent-up energy after a year-long work. "It would be pragmatic to start the official holiday one or two days before New Year's Eve, which would give people time to make arrangements to get home."

A government employee surnamed Zhao in Shengyang, the capital of Liaoning comes from central Hunan Province, and is busy planning her trip home even though the holiday is two weeks away. "New Year's Eve is just as important as New Year's Day, so I'll go home no matter where I am," she said, who has been leaving for home several days before the New Year since she started her job.

Liaoning isn't the only province where government workers manage to get home by New Year's Eve. A government employee in Beijing said her colleagues all make it home before New Year's Eve every year.

New Year's Eve is not an official holiday in China, however, and people are expected to go to work as they would on any other day. The holiday technically begins on the first day of the New Year.

It's easy for those who live in the same city as their families to make it home for the holidays in time, but for those who are working out of town, there may not be enough time.

According to a poll on www.daqi.com, 93.7 percent of respondents thought New Year's Eve should be included as an official holiday. A small percentage weren't concerned as they worked through the official holiday every year.

Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences (LASS) researcher Zhang Sining said in an interview with Xinhua that traditionally Chinese New Year celebrations began a week before the actual New Year's Day (the day one week before the Lunar New Year is called "New Year prelude, or Xiao Nian) and so the extra official holidays would be completely in line with Chinese tradition.