National Day Golden Week in Chinese 国庆黄金周

Guóqìng huángjīnzhōu

National Day in Chinese is 国庆节 (guó qìng jié).

Also searched for as: October Golden Week, China National Day holiday, October 1st holiday, Guoqing, Chinese Golden Week.

A week off in October, and the busiest travel week of autumn. 15 words and phrases for National Day Golden Week in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.

National Day in Chinese is 国庆节 (guó qìng jié), marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949. People usually call the holiday 十一 (shí yī), and the week-long 国庆长假 (guó qìng cháng jià) is one of the busiest travel periods of the year, with crowded sights, 排队 (pái duì) everywhere and a huge 返程高峰 (fǎn chéng gāo fēng) at the end.

Usage tips

• 十一 (shí yī) here means month 10, day 1, i.e. 1 October, so 十一去哪儿？ asks about holiday plans. Don't confuse it with 双十一 (shuāng shí yī), the 11 November shopping festival.
• When the Mid-Autumn Festival, 中秋节 (zhōng qiū jié), falls close to 1 October, the two holidays run together and people call them 双节 (shuāng jié); in those years you'll see the greeting 双节快乐.
• 晒照片 (shài zhào piàn), literally "to sun photos", means posting photos to show off, usually on 朋友圈 (péng you quān), WeChat Moments; 晒 works with other nouns too, as in 晒美食 (shài měi shí), showing off food.

Common mistakes

• Using 挤 (jǐ) as a noun for "a crowd" → it's an adjective or verb: 太挤了 (tài jǐ le), "it's too crowded"; a crowd is 人群 (rén qún).
• Reading 涨价 as cháng jià or zhàng jià → 涨 is zhǎng, to rise, so it's zhǎng jià; don't mix it up with 长 in 长假 (cháng jià).

Mini dialogue

1. A十一你有什么安排？Shí yī nǐ yǒu shén me ān pái?What are your plans for the October holiday?
2. B本来想去自驾游，可是酒店都涨价了。Běn lái xiǎng qù zì jià yóu, kě shì jiǔ diàn dōu zhǎng jià le.I was going to do a road trip, but the hotels have all gone up in price.
3. A那你还是早点订酒店吧，不然更贵。Nà nǐ hái shì zǎo diǎn dìng jiǔ diàn ba, bù rán gèng guì.Then you'd better book a hotel soon, or it'll get even pricier.
4. B算了，景区那么挤，我还是在家看别人晒照片吧。Suàn le, jǐng qū nà me jǐ, wǒ hái shì zài jiā kàn bié rén shài zhào piàn ba.Forget it. The sights are so crowded, I'll just stay at home and look at everyone else's photos.

Example sentences

• 国庆节是十月一号。National Day is October 1st.
• 十一你回老家吗？Are you going home for the October holiday?
• 国庆长假一般有七天。The National Day holiday is usually seven days.
• 国庆是一年里最大的旅游高峰之一。National Day is one of the busiest travel times of the year.
• 国庆很多人选择出境游。Lots of people choose to go abroad over National Day.
• 我们打算国庆去自驾游。We're planning a road trip for National Day.
• 国庆出去玩，最好早点订酒店。If you're travelling over National Day, book your hotel early.
• 国庆期间机票和酒店都涨价。Flights and hotels all go up in price over National Day.
• 在景点排队排了两个小时。We queued for two hours at the tourist site.
• 长城上太挤了，根本走不动。The Great Wall was so crowded we could barely move.
• 很多景区国庆期间限流。Lots of tourist sites limit visitor numbers over National Day.
• 很多游客天不亮就去天安门看升旗仪式。Lots of tourists go to Tiananmen before dawn to watch the flag-raising ceremony.
• 国庆大家都在朋友圈晒照片。Over National Day everyone's posting photos on WeChat Moments.
• 假期最后一两天是返程高峰。The last day or two of the holiday is the big rush home.
• 放完七天假，我得了假期综合征。After seven days off, I've got the post-holiday blues.

Practise speaking

Ready to use these words? The National Day Golden Week speaking island has 8 everyday questions about National Day Golden Week to prepare your own answers to.

Related topics

• Teachers' Day 教师节
• Lantern Festival 元宵节
• Canton Fair 广交会
• The Olympics 奥运会
• The World Cup 世界杯
• Football leagues 足球联赛
• Basketball leagues 篮球联赛
• UFC & MMA 综合格斗

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