1999年，為了應對亞洲金融危機，我國啟動了長達7天的“五一”和“十一”黃金周假期，以拉動內需，刺激經濟。2008年，在一片爭議聲中，長達7天的“五一”黃金周正式“瘦身”為3天短假期。在金融危機席卷全球，經濟低迷的情況下“五一”黃金周再次成為人們熱議話題。全國政協委員、原國家旅游局副局長張希欽在全國政協小組討論中提議，應該恢復“五一”黃金周。據人民網進行的一次在線調查顯示，有92.2％的人贊成恢復“五一”黃金周。國家旅游局新聞發言人劉曉軍稱，國家旅游局尚未對其可行性做相關研究，如果地方政府認為恢復 “五一”黃金周有利于當地經濟發展，可以試點。
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A deputy's proposal to resume the seven-day Labor Day Golden Week holiday has sparked heated debate online as well as in the ongoing sessions of CPPCC and NPC.
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A deputy's proposal to resume the seven-day Labor Day Golden Week holiday has sparked heated debate online as well as in the ongoing sessions of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and National People's Congress (NPC).
"We need a weeklong holiday at some point during nearly half a year's hard work, because having three days off doesn't afford enough time for long-distance travel," 27-year-old Beijinger Su Jun said yesterday.
"It is so hard to ask the boss for paid leave in the face of the global economic crisis."
She was also worried her travel-mates could not get paid leave at the same time as her.
Su was one of 5 million who voted in an online poll that www.people.com.cn revealed on Wednesday in which 92.2 percent of respondents supported the resumption.
Former vice-director of the National Tourism Administration (NTA) Zhang Xiqin made the proposal during a group discussion of the ongoing CPPCC session.
He pointed out the seven-day Labor Day holiday could cushion the economic downturn by boosting tourism and domestic consumption.
China kicked off the May Day and National Day golden week holidays in 1999 partly to spur domestic consumption.
Then three golden weeks were cut down to two.
Three new holidays celebrating traditional Chinese festivals (the Tomb Sweeping Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival) were added last year.
The move was in response to public complaints of overcrowding on buses and railways, and at tourists sites.
However, NTA spokesman Liu Xiaojun said yesterday that the administration had not researched the feasibility of resuming the weeklong Labor Day holiday.
"Local governments could develop pilot projects to promote consumption according to their unique situations," the National Business Daily quoted him as saying yesterday.
Tsinghua University professor Cai Jiming, a holiday reform advocate, told the ongoing CPPCC session the weeklong vacation was never intended to stay in place over the long term.
The Labor Day holiday should remain three days long, Cai said.
"Canceling the 'seven-day weekend' cannot influence tourism revenues," he told the National Business Daily yesterday.
But NPC deputy Ma Yuanzhu, who is also president of a Sichuan-based tourism company, said resuming the Labor Day Golden Week could rejuvenate Sichuan's tourism industry.
The sector had slumped since last year's earthquake.
(China Daily)
（英語點津 Helen 編輯）
