Keep 'Golden Week' says holiday poll

China's holiday authorities have begun soliciting the public for opinions on their preferred arrangements for public holidays for 2014, the second such poll since this year's National Day holiday, when there were vociferous complaints over scenes of chaos at tourism sites and tiring working schedules.

The poll was launched on Wednesday on seven major news websites.

Without changing the total 11 days of public holidays, all three different schemes detailed on the poll will have seven days holiday for the Spring Festival by adjusting weekends before and after.

The major differences in the three schemes apply to the National Day holiday arrangements with options of three days, five days or seven days, all starting from October 1.

Other holidays like New Year's Day or the Mid-Autumn Festival will last one day if they fall on a Wednesday, three days including a weekend if on Tuesday or Thursday, or extend onto Monday if they fall on Saturday or Sunday.

Among the participants, 55 percent prefer the third scheme with the week-long National Day holiday, and 28.2 percent chose the first, and only 16.8 percent chose the second, according to people.com.cn.

Yang Zhenzhi, a professor of tourism with Sichuan University, said that most people still want a longer holiday, but all three schemes failed to satisfy people's needs, adding that long holidays are also important for the country to boost the economy and the tourism market.

"I don't think there is any difference in these options provided to the public this time," Beijing resident Wang Rui said. "I chose the third one because it wouldn't change my life too much."