the fight for two-day weekends · Full chronicle and history

Recently, multiple netizens in Shenzhen posted on Xiaohongshu and Douyin that their companies, in order to comply with the two-day APEC holiday, are requiring employees to use their annual leave to offset the time off. Those who have no annual leave left for this year are being asked to deduct it from their 2027 annual leave. Some in the comment section shared similar arrangements.

On October 28, a blogger posted a silent video with subtitles reading, "The momentum for two-day weekends must not fade" and "We can contribute our spending power, but please respect our labor," calling for the implementation of a two-day weekend system.

According to a report by Jizhou Studio, some young people who already have jobs call themselves "two-day weekend heroes," post their resumes on job platforms, and send rejection letters to companies that do not offer two-day weekends, saying they are looking for a company with a two-day weekend and that the other party did not make it into the shortlist.

On October 7, a video creator posted a video satirizing the fact that openly going to work during the National Day holiday in violation of the labor law goes unchallenged, while riding an electric bike without a helmet normally gets one stopped by traffic police.

According to Reuters, as China's national statutory holidays approach, Chinese workers are publicly demanding the rest and holidays they are entitled to. The situation has drawn outside attention to labor rights and the implementation of holiday entitlements.

On October 1, the app "Two-Day Weekend Go," which advocates prioritizing purchases from companies that implement two-day weekends and treat employees well, went on the Apple App Store. Users can view companies' rest systems and submit tips, and the platform states that it does not build a blacklist of companies and only positively includes information that has been reviewed.

On September 30, a netizen posted their personal monthly working-hours record, showing a single-day maximum of 18.2 working hours. In the related recommendations, many workers posted their attendance for September and the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, with monthly working hours generally over 300 hours and some exceeding 350 hours, complaining about working non-stop without any rest.

On September 30, Sichuan Mobile Newspaper posted a video on Douyin about the Chengdu–Dazhou–Wanzhou high-speed railway "working non-stop through National Day" with the hashtag "salute to the laborers," saying that 1,050 builders on Section 5 were working round-the-clock in shifts. Several netizens in the comments asked about triple wages, and one such comment received 4,393 likes.

Ahead of the National Day holiday, a topic on Weibo opposing make-up workdays during the holiday garnered 360 million views and 120,000 discussions, and workers' dissatisfaction with holiday shifting, low wages, and excessive overtime has spawned consumer boycotts and rights defense through legal channels.

On September 28, a Douyin blogger released a video titled "No Good Employer Has One-Day Weekends," questioning the claim that taking one less day off means earning more money, arguing that many monthly salaries are padded out by extending working hours, and saying wages should be evaluated by hourly rate, sparking heated discussion among netizens.

On September 26, a netizen in Guangdong posted a work drawing an analogy to “public toilets used to charge fees, and it was only after predecessors spoke out that the charges were abolished,” calling on workers to lawfully voice their demands for implementing the two-day weekend system. The post received over 100,000 likes, and a large number of netizens left comments supporting the two-day weekend and the eight-hour workday.

As of September 26, the "Xiuxiu Cha" mini-program shows that it has included 1,453 companies, 26 products, and 1,578 employee tags.

On September 24, the Communist Youth League Central Committee released a promotional video on Bilibili for the National Day eve themed around "many places hanging five-star red flags." After it aired, the danmu were flooded with calls for "two-day weekends," with netizens seizing the opportunity to express demands for the enforcement of the two-day weekend system.

On September 24, a netizen posted an AI-generated video, adding hashtags such as "Refuse Silence," "Eight-Hour Workday," and "Five Days On, Two Days Off," saying that all injustice is acquiesced to through countless silences; many voiced support in the comments section.

The National Day holiday shift makeup policy on September 20 sparked public dissatisfaction, with numerous posts on social media platforms like Xiaoshongshu (RedNote) opposing the shift adjustments. Netizens expressed their discontent and proposed forms of retaliation such as slack off and reducing large purchases.

A domestic blogger posted a video criticizing the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday arrangement, pointing out that only one day is a newly added holiday while the other two days are already the weekend. The blogger also expressed dissatisfaction with the exclamation mark used in official propaganda stating 'Three-day holiday, no work schedule adjustment!', arguing that it attempts to create a fake sense of welfare.

On September 19, discussions about the compensated off-days system topped Weibo's trending list. Netizens and bloggers criticized the system for shuffling weekend days to piece together long holidays, aiming to boost consumption rather than guarantee rest. They noted that the two-day weekend and paid leave systems have long failed to be implemented, leading to increased fatigue among the public. Weibo's official account also interpreted the system's design as being born out of domestic demand-driven motives, triggering strong dissatisfaction among netizens over policies ignoring public opinion.

Regarding the compensatory leave arrangements for the 2026 Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, "boycott consumption during compensatory leave" once topped the Weibo trending list, with netizens advocating for no travel and no shopping during the compensatory leave period.

On September 20, at the Douyin Creator Conference held in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, multiple bloggers openly expressed dissatisfaction with the current schedule adjustment system and explicitly supported restoring two-day weekends and canceling schedule adjustments.

On September 14, families of multiple victims in Lishui, Zhejiang, held portraits of the deceased and went to the headquarters of Lishui Public Transport Group Co., Ltd. to conduct rights defense. The family members stated that their father was killed after being struck by a bus while performing road work. Nearly three months after the incident, the bus company has yet to provide a clear response, prompting the family to visit the company to demand accountability.

On September 15, Apple released the official version of iOS 17, which includes a new alarm feature that supports compensatory leave (tiaoxiu). Wenzhou state media "Temperature News" called this an "epic update," sparking widespread ridicule from netizens who accused Apple of compromising with China's compensatory leave system and keeping pace with the regression of the times.

On September 16, a blogger posted a video expressing dissatisfaction with holidays being squeezed by adjusted workdays, resonating with a large number of netizens who complained in the comments about working multiple days in a row and the shrinkage of holidays caused by adjusted workdays.

On September 14, an influencer in Chongqing launched a challenge to only purchase products from businesses where employees enjoy a two-day weekend. After visiting streets and shopping malls, it was discovered that most service industry businesses operate on a one-day weekend or no-day weekend schedule. Ultimately, the influencer only managed to buy a cup of Luckin Coffee and ended the challenge, unable to fill their stomach with products from businesses with two-day weekends.

On September 14, 2026, a blogger in Chongqing launched a challenge: in one day, only buy from businesses that state their employees have two-day weekends. After an afternoon of visits and repeated rejections, the blogger ended up buying just one cup of coffee.

On September 12, Liu Anjun went to the Beijing Guangnei Police Station and other departments to demand clarification on Sun Meihua's suspected abandonment, trafficking, and purchase of persons, and was told that the case was still ongoing and that information was kept confidential from non-direct family members.

On September 10, a netizen in Beijing filmed a challenge to find 100 jobs without weekends. In the video, a low-level security guard revealed that he did not have a single day off last month, working 12 hours a day, approximately 84 hours per week, and had no social security contributions such as the five insurances and one fund.

As discussions about implementing two-day weekends increase on the internet, the comment sections of many videos on the Douyin platform themed around second-generation factory owners inheriting family businesses have been targeted by a large number of netizens asking about basic labor rights such as social security, the eight-hour workday, and two-day weekends.

On September 10, a netizen specifically asked an online store's customer service whether they implemented a two-day weekend. After learning it was a single-day off system, they explicitly stated they would no longer purchase products from stores that do not have two-day weekends. This statement sparked heated discussion and support among netizens, reflecting public dissatisfaction with long-term overtime and single-day off systems.

After inquiring about vacation policies, netizens are refusing to consume from or are returning goods from companies that do not provide two-day weekends, focusing on labor rights.

On September 10, a video revealed that brands like Starbucks have 8 to 9 days off per month, while others like Bawang Chaji have only 4 days. Netizens left comments confirming this and calling for the implementation of two-day weekends.

A Rosa roxburghii juice brand drew attention after posting a notice of 13 consecutive days off for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, receiving more than 200 orders, more than twice the usual level. The employment notice explicitly states that overtime is not encouraged and team-building events will not be held on rest days.

Xiaohongshu users have launched a 'strike-out' campaign, calling for a boycott of products from companies that implement single-day-off or alternating own-day-off systems, to force companies to implement double-day-off systems, sparking widespread resonance.

On August 27, 2026, it was rumored online that Dongguan city, in order to coordinate the traffic congestion when employees of Huawei's terminal headquarters get off work on Fridays, changed nearby schools from two-day weekends to one-day weekends, sparking online discussion.

Liu Xiang posted on Weibo asking netizens for help, saying the Shanghai Sports Bureau required him to choose between a "buyout of his years of service" and "becoming a coach," and questioning why the placement issue had been delayed for ten years. The Shanghai Sports Bureau responded that it would arrange proper placement.

Affected villagers posted stating that the flood was a man-made accident, and all residents of Liulan Village refused to sign, demanding an explanation from higher authorities.

On July 2, 2026, a bamboo raft in the waters off Houjiang, Nan'ao County, Shantou, Guangdong was capsized after being struck by an iron vessel, killing one person, and the vessel responsible fled the scene. Recently, the family took to the internet to report that no case had been filed long after the incident and that dock surveillance footage had been overwritten, publicly seeking help to defend their rights.

On June 12, 2026, the Gaizhou City Public Security Bureau in Liaoning formally returned 2,859.2 grams of gold products seized nearly 30 years ago to Dalian man Pan Yongjia and reached a settlement, with the party withdrawing his state compensation application.

On June 8, 2026, in Qitaihe, Heilongjiang, a candidate ranked first in a public institution exam but was illegally replaced. After the person involved continued to defend her rights and appeal, local officials directly issued an announcement canceling the entire recruitment position in question.

After returning to her hometown in Guizhou, Xiao Wei (online name "Xiao Wei is not Xiao Wei"), a mainland spouse deported from Taiwan, has been actively defending the rights of local residents, live-streaming to denounce local government extravagance, and publicly challenging the local village committee to a debate in her live-stream.

On February 18, 2025, the “Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher” team announced the interim results of “611Study,” having collected data on excessive schedules from 2,113 high schools across the country within two weeks, and pushed schools in multiple regions to restore two-day weekends and delay the start of the school term.

After the Yang Jia case occurred, artist Ai Weiwei published a series of posts on his blog, pressing questions about the details of Yang Jia's case, the circumstances of his mother being committed to a psychiatric hospital, and the violations of procedure during the trial; his blog at one point became a gathering point for online public opinion. After that, he spoke out for Yang Jia multiple times.

Ms. Ma Yongtian won a lawsuit regarding her factory being robbed in 2002 and obtained a court judgment.