Over 72% of working Chinese give up paid vacation in last 3 years

When the World Leisure Games open in the port city of Qingdao on Saturday, with a song and dance extravaganza by 2,400 citizens celebrating China's tradition of dancing in public squares, they will be happening in a country where most people don't, or can't, take paid vacations – despite having the right to.

12日世界休闲体育大会在港口城市青岛开幕，数以千计的市民将以一场盛大歌舞表演颂扬中国的广场舞传统。此次活动是在一个多数人无缘或无法享受带薪休假——尽管人们有这个权利——的国家举行的。

More than 72 percent of working Chinese have not taken a paid vacation in the last three years, Xinhua, the state news agency, reported recently, although the Constitution recognizes the right of all working people "to rest" and state labor regulations specify the right to paid leave.

据新华网最近进行的网上调查，约72%的中国工薪族在过去三年没享受带薪休假，尽管宪法认可所有劳动者有"休息"的权利，而且国家有关法规规定了劳动者有带薪休假权。

Fewer than 14 percent of Chinese workers took one paid vacation in the last three years, while just under 8 percent took three. Among the reasons, according to Xinhua, which compiled its figures from an online poll: Workers "don't dare" (22 percent), "don't have the time" (22 percent) or "don't want to because it would affect their future development" (nearly 10 percent).

在过去三年里，享受过一次带薪休假的人不到14%，而享受过三次带薪休假的人则不到8%。 上述调查显示，工薪族不能带薪休假的原因包括"不敢休"（22.4%）、"没有时间休"（22.3%）或"担心休假会影响发展前途"（9.7%）。

Government officials and employees of state-run companies, as well as employees of foreign companies, were the most likely to take a paid vacation. Private Chinese companies, especially smaller ones, had the worst record for granting employees paid time off, Xinhua said.

行政机关、国有企事业单位的职工是最有可能享受带薪休假的人群。而中国私企（尤其是小微私企）在让员工享受带薪休假方面的记录最糟糕。

In the city of Shenyang in northeastern China on Wednesday, workers at a hot-pot restaurant kowtowed to their bosses, shouting: "Thank you, boss, for the work!"

9日，在中国东北的沈阳市，一家火锅店的员工向他们的老板磕头并高喊"感谢老总，给我工作"。

Officials appear worried about the punishing hours to which workers are subjected — but, judging by a notice issued last month by the State Council, that is mostly because they hope more free time will translate into more tourist consumption.

官员们似乎对于在经济增长放缓的背景下人们所承受的辛苦劳动感到担心——但是根据国务院办公厅上个月印发的一项通知来判断，这多半还是因为官方希望人们有更多的空闲时间可以进行更多的旅游消费。

In the notice, titled "Opinions on Further Stimulating Investment and Boosting Consumption in the Tourist Industry," the council called on companies to grant their workers a two-and-a-half day weekend.

在这项名为《关于进一步促进旅游投资和消费的若干意见》的通知中，国务院要求落实职工带薪休假制度，鼓励错峰休假，鼓励弹性作息。

Under council regulations that took effect in 2008, all Chinese workers with up to 10 years of service are entitled to five days of paid annual vacation beginning after one full year of work. Workers with 10 to 20 years of service are allowed 10 days of vacation and there should be 15 days for those who have completed 20 years.

根据2008年初开始施行的《职工带薪年休假条例》以及此后施行的有关实施办法，职工在累计工作已满1年不满10年的，有权享受每年5天的带薪休假；已满10年不到20年的，可享受10天的带薪休假；而已满20年的可以享受15天带薪休假。

The regulations were drawn up, it says, "to safeguard employees' right to rest and take leave, and mobilize their work enthusiasm."

制定本条例是为了"维护职工休息休假权利，调动职工工作积极性"。

The council's logic might have been familiar to the Situationists, a Marxist-inspired movement in Europe in the 1960s whose members believed the concept of leisure was about creating "forced consumption," part of a capitalist system that aimed to make a commodity out of even free time, selling it to workers as compensation for their loss of real freedom. "Leisure is working," the movement argued.

中国的逻辑对于"情境主义"运动来说或许是耳熟能详的。"情境主义"是上世纪60年代欧洲一个灵感来自于马克思主义的运动，其成员认为，休闲概念的意义在于创造"强迫消费"，即旨在使空闲时间都成为一种商品的资本主义制度的一部分。该运动声称"休闲就是工作"。

The World Leisure Games are held every five years by the World Leisure Organization, founded in New York in 1952 in response to concerns that industrialization and urbanization were depriving people of safe and clean sites for leisure activities. The games this year are supported by the China National Tourism Administration and China Tourism Association and feature 17 competitions, including fishing, golfing, ocean swimming, cycling and martial arts.

世界休闲体育大会每5年举行一次，主办机构是世界休闲组织。该组织是1952年为应对有关工业化和城市化正在剥夺人们安全和清洁的休闲活动场所的担忧而成立的。今年的休闲体育大会得到了中国国家旅游局和中国旅游协会的支持，大会设17个比赛项目，包括钓鱼、畅游胶州湾、自行车和武术等。