(Crowds in the holiday,sohu.com)


(Crowds in the holiday,sohu.com)

(Crowds  in the holiday, takungpao.com)

Whether at sea or in the mountains, it's not uncommon to see crowds of people just about everywhere during Golden Week. But this has caused some, like Wang Zhifa, the deputy director of the National Travel Bureau, to call for changes in the holiday break.

According to Wang, over 60% of people planned to travel before last year's National Day Holiday, demonstrating the need for the break in peoples' lives. 

He admits, "The holiday makes huge contributions to domestic consumption. It promotes economic development and improves people's quality of life." "But due to the conflict between supply and demand when it comes to travel, the quality of travel during the break still needs improvement," he says.

Common leisurely activities like watching TV and playing Majiang during the break indicate the difficulty people have of taking full advantage of the holiday because of the country's large population.

Wang Zhifa plans to submit his/her proposal for changing Golden Week to the State Council after overseeing professional research on the subject.

Some background on general leisure time
Many people think Chinese people work much more than they relax, but a survey conducted by doctor Wei Xiang from Renmin University says Chinese people's leisure time has reached the international level, at 6051.2 hours or 195.3 days in 2000.