October 1st is China's National Day which commemorates the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 (Communist China). There are usually national celebrations and military parades in Tian'anmen Square, Beijing to acknowledge and celebrate the day.National Day is always a week long celebration, October 1–7 and is referred to as ‘Golden Week’. It is the biggest week for tourism in China when people have a week off to visit their families and take trips for the holiday around China and abroad. Because it is a national holiday and China has a big population, this means millions of people travel across China and there are large crowds everywhere during this week.

Explore these videos and ask students to notice ways they observe the festival being celebrated. They may choose to draw pictures of the ways they see afterwards, then share. Ask them to focus on activities done and anything else they note.

Brainstorm together famous tourist spots in China - e.g. The Great Wall or The Panda Reserve (in Chengdu). There are many famous tourism spots that are visited during National Week and at other times during the year. Watch the video below and ask students to make a poster drawing 3-4 of their favourites and places they would like to visit.

Watch the videos above and discuss together the challenges that are faced by the tourism industry and travellers during this period. Together, brainstorm solutions to the issues identified linked to the fact that all of China is on holiday at the same time and most people travel in this period e.g. move the holiday for different states, build temporary hotels, etc.

Chinese culture celebrates many different festivals. Brainstorm 3-5 together as a class and then in groups, identify the main ideas for each one. Check the holidays by watching the video below. Use this Venn diagram to compare and contrast this to National Day Holiday Week.