In China, both Putonghua and English are the languages of business. So, if the foreign tourists travel to China for business purpose, they can usually communicate with the chinese merchants in simple English. However, Putonghua is an official language of China. Most of the Chinese merely speak Putonghua with the outsiders. So, if the foreign tourists want to visit China but cannot speak Putonghua, they will find inconvenient on their tours. Therefore, it is essential and useful for the foreign tourists to learn some simple Putonghua when they decide to visit China.

In China there are 11 days of national public holiday throughout the year, and they are:

Official Holidays: January 1st New Year's Day February 12th-18th Chinese Lunar Festival May 1st - 7th Labour Day October 1st-7th National Day Traditional Festivals: 15th of the 1st month Lantern Festival the 3rd month Qing Ming 5th of the 5th month Dragon-Boat Festival 15th of the 8th month Mid-Autumn Festival Mid April Water Splashing Festival May 4th Chinese Youth Day July/August Nadam Fair

New Year's Day This day is not celebrated as much as it is in other parts of the world because it is overshawdowed by the Chinese New Year (Lunar Festival). International Women's Day Women employees will get a whole or an half paid day-off on the day. Labour Day Employees will enjoy a paid day-off. Celebration parties in parks took place as parades on the day. National Day It is the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Employees enjoy two paid-day off. Celebrations usually take the form of parties in amusement parks by day and fire-works and grand TV ensembles during the evening. Chinese Lunar Festival The biggest and most celebrated festival in China and south east Asia. New Year's Eve dinner is the most important event when the whole family is present. Special foods are served and more meat than the usual is prepared. Fireworks will break the night, scaring the demons and bad luck away. Pictures of the Door Gods will be posted on the outside door with couples limned in bright red. Folk art poster, paper cutting and lucky wordings on bright red paper will be posted on the wall and windows. Lantern Festival It marks the end of the Chinese New Year Season. Lantern exhibits, lion and dragon dances, and eating Tang Yuan (ball-shaped boiled sweet rice dumplings with delicious stuffings) are events today. It is very much celebrated in the rural areas by farmers. Qing Ming A day when people visit cemeteries to pay respect to their departed ancestors. Dragon Boat Festival It is in memory of a great patriot poet of the State of Chu during the warring States period (475-221 B.C.), Qu Yuan who drowned himself to protest his emperor who gave in to the bully State of Chin. To avoid the fish to consume his body, people of Chin launched their boats and threw rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves into the river where he was drowned to feed the fish. People today still eat the bamboo-leaf rice dumplings (zong zi). Teams of dragon boats, similar to long canoes, train for weeks for the contests in this day, not only in China, but also in other Asian countries with Chinese populations. Mid-Autumn Festival This is a festival for people who love to admire the full moon, while the moon on this day is the fullest and largest to the eye. The whole family gather together, feasting in good wine, fruits, nuts and cakes. Water Splashing Festival The most important festival of the year for the Dai people in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province. A festival that washes away the demons of the old year and welcomes the joy of the new. Chinese Youth Day Commemorating the 1919 student demonstration against foreign aggression. Nadam Fair A seven-day Mongolian festival featuring horseback riding, archery and wrestling.