Short answer
China has exactly seven statutory public holidays, and they are fixed by a State Council notice published once a year, usually in late October or early November of the year before. For 2026 that notice was published on 4 November 2025. In 2026 the seven blocks are: New Year 1–3 January, Spring Festival 15–23 February, Qingming 4–6 April, Labour Day 1–5 May, Dragon Boat 19–21 June, Mid-Autumn 25–27 September, and National Day 1–7 October — 33 days in total. **There is no public holiday in December.** A visitor in December gets normal opening hours, and the Palace Museum's regular Monday closure still applies. The 2027 schedule is not published yet; Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday 6 February, and the State Council has never pre-announced when the notice will appear — historically late October to early December of the previous year.
The complete 2026 calendar, as officially published
These dates come from the State Council notice 国办发明电〔2025〕7号, published 4 November 2025, not from travel blogs: New Year 1–3 January (3 days), Spring Festival 15–23 February (9 days), Qingming 4–6 April (3 days), Labour Day 1–5 May (5 days), Dragon Boat 19–21 June (3 days), Mid-Autumn 25–27 September (3 days), National Day 1–7 October (7 days).
Four of the seven blocks include 调休 — make-up working days. Those are specific weekends that become **working** days, and a visitor who assumes "it's a weekend, so it must be closed" gets it exactly backwards. In 2026 the named make-up days are 4 January, 14 February, 28 February, 9 May, 20 September and 10 October. Qingming, Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn have no make-up days at all.
December has no holiday, and April has exactly one
The notice enumerates exactly seven holidays and none of them falls in December. That is not an omission — the regulation on national holidays lists the same seven as the complete set, and no additional holiday has ever been added. December therefore behaves like an ordinary month: normal opening hours everywhere, and the Palace Museum's regular Monday closure still in force.
April has Qingming, and in 2026 it ran Saturday 4 to Monday 6 April — three days with no make-up working day attached, and it swallowed the Monday, so the Palace Museum's usual Monday closure was suspended that week.
February 2027: the date is certain, the schedule is not
Chinese New Year 2027 falls on **Saturday 6 February 2027**. The official holiday block, however, does not exist yet, and the State Council has never issued an advance date for publishing it. From the historical record: the 2026 schedule came out on 4 November 2025, the 2025 one on 12 November 2024, the 2024 one on 25 October 2023, the 2023 one on 8 December 2022. Assume late October to early December 2026.
Because New Year 2027 lands on a Saturday, the block will almost certainly start on New Year's Eve, Friday 5 February, and run into the following week — the same pattern as 2026, where the block ran from Sunday 15 February to Monday 23 February. The regulation attaches 除夕 (New Year's Eve) to the Spring Festival holiday itself, so a Friday start is the normal shape, not a guess.
The zodiac year changes at Lunar New Year, not on 1 January
2026 is the Year of the Horse and 2027 the Year of the Goat. The change happens at the Spring Festival, so on 1 January 2027 you are still in the Year of the Horse — the Horse year does not end until 6 February 2027. This trips up anyone who assumes the animal year runs January to December, and it matters for anything that refers to "the year of the …".
What actually closes — and the one rule that is suspended
The Palace Museum closes all day on Mondays. That rule has an explicit exception: **on statutory holidays the Monday closure is suspended**, and the museum also extends or shortens opening hours around holiday periods, announced on its own site. So during a holiday week the one day you would normally avoid is the one day that is open.
Two booking facts that hold throughout: the Palace Museum sells no same-day tickets, and tickets — the main gate plus the Clock and Treasure galleries — open for booking at 20:00 exactly seven days before your visit date. Non-mainland visitors book with a passport or a Foreign Permanent Resident ID card. Capacity is capped, so in a holiday week a sold-out notice is a real risk.
On crowd size, the State Council Information Office briefed reporters on 28 September 2026 ahead of the National Day holiday: 2.13 billion cross-regional trips over the seven days, about 300 million a day, roughly 1.7 times normal. If you want a quiet China, that number is the argument for December.
Related guides
More questions answered
Official sources
- State Council notice on the 2026 public-holiday arrangement, 国办发明电〔2025〕7号 (gov.cn, 4 Nov 2025) — the seven holiday blocks and the six named make-up working days
- Palace Museum — closed all day on Mondays except statutory holidays; opening hours change around holiday periods (dpm.org.cn)
- Palace Museum ticketing — closed Mondays except statutory holidays, no same-day tickets, booking opens 7 days ahead at 20:00, passport required for non-mainland visitors (ticket.dpm.org.cn)
- Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian–Lunar conversion table 2027 — 6 Feb 2027 is the 1st lunar month, a Saturday; the Goat year starts then (hko.gov.hk)
- Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian–Lunar conversion table 2026 — 17 Feb 2026 is the 1st lunar month; the Horse year runs until then (hko.gov.hk)
- Ministry of Transport, 28 Sep 2026 — State Council Information Office briefing on National Day transport: 2.13 billion cross-regional trips over 7 days, about 1.7 times normal (mot.gov.cn)
- Regulation on national holidays, State Council Order No. 795 (gov.cn) — the seven statutory holidays for all citizens, and that New Year's Eve is part of the Spring Festival holiday
Policies and booking channels change — check the official channel before you rely on it.