Paid vacations can fix 'golden mess'

The Golden Week of the National Day holiday may witness another "golden mess" with crowded trains and scenic spots. Before the holiday, the national holiday office, which was in charge of deciding the dates of the national holidays, was upgraded to an intra-ministry organization to promote the sound development of tourism.

The change was widely interpreted as signaling that the government aims to introduce paid leave. Only by implementing paid leave can the "golden messes" of the Spring Festival and National Day holidays be effectively eased.

Employees' right to enjoy paid vacation was written into law as early as in 1995. However, it was not until last year that the government showed its determination to properly carry out the practice through the announcement made by the State Council that a paid vacation system has to be implemented throughout the country by 2020. A lot of obstacles lie ahead of the full implementation of the practice.