what do you think of National Day Oct 1, 2010

The National Day's coming,The official holiday is only three days (October 1-3), but the Chinese work through the preceding weekend in exchange for two more weekdays as holiday and the following weekend, so they get Monday to Sunday off. Usually the exact arrangements are not announced until shortly before the holiday, but you're in luck because this time they were announced in 2009 (a first). The holiday is Friday October 1 to Thursday October 7. In exchange the Chinese will have to work the preceding Sunday (Sept 26th) and the following Saturday (the 9th) are also work days. The arrangements for Hong Kong are completely different, where October 1st will be a holiday and that's that.

Although demand for travel increases in the lead-up to the holiday and lasts for a few days afterwards, as those with any discretionary travel with Car DVD player time bolt it on to the official holiday, in general your problem is only the beginning of the holiday and the end of it, when demand for public transport is very high. Even in the middle of the holiday period you may obtain heavily discounted tickets. This is a holiday for leisure travel, not one for visiting family, so the demand isn't anything like as high as at Spring Festival, and the main demand is on routes to tourist destinations. The people with money to spend on leisure travel with Car DVD mostly reside in the big cities, and the result is that these are generally quieter and easier to get around than they would normally be. In addition to the reduced traffic caused by the exodus all official government work unit vehicles are usually ordered off the roads for the holiday, too. All public attractions and restaurants remain open, however, and it's only banks and offices that are closed. Travel agencies may take the three official days but no more. Hotel rooms, at least at the middle to upper end, are usually plentiful and rates reasonable.

So generally within mainland China plan to be somewhere before the rush starts, and move on to your next destination in the middle, and your next one after the end of the holiday. The rush may tail off a bit more slowly this year since probably many will find a way to fudge having the Friday and Saturday off and only come home on the Sunday.

In short, it's not the ideal time to go travel, but it can be managed, and being in big cities during this period can even have its advantages. The October holiday marks the end of the autumn leisure travel season, though, so if you travel after it, with the exception of those hotels connected with the conference business and which will be very busy (late Oct is peak conference and exhibition season) prices and demand generally drop.