China’s ‘golden week’ holidays come at a cost
A week of uninterrupted leave might look generous on paper, but it can conceal the working days shifted elsewhere to make it possible
For iPhone users in China, the calendar has long presented a small but recurring problem. On a Sunday designated as a make-up workday, an alarm might remain silent. On a regular Friday converted into a day off, it might ring anyway.
Nearly 17 years after entering the Chinese market, Apple quietly updated its operating system in September to automatically recognise China’s official schedule of adjusted holidays and workdays. The fix is modest, but it points to a larger question: what happens when a society’s working week no longer matches the natural cadence of the days?
