I can sympathise with both Zhang Lei and with her employer. Family ties exert an incredible pressure on individuals in Chinese society; in the old days when families lived and worked closer together it was much easier to respond to these pressures without feeling too much strain, now it has become quite difficult. But if Ms Zhang was a good and reliable employee wouldn't it be in the employer's interests to be flexible enough to allow her to see her family and still keep her job?

In other countries this would not be such a problem. There could be several solutions a] accrue enough annual leave throughout the year to use at Spring Festival b] if the job does not permit enough paid leave then simply ask for extra unpaid leave. There are probably other ways around the question without haven't to lose your job - these would all be feasible in a European country but I don't know if they are possible here in China.

"This is acting irresponsibly toward employers." - Tang Ziwen sounds like a self-righteous prig. The problem definitely lies with the way Chinese companies administer holidays. Often Chinese businesses do not tell their employees when they are allowed to go on vacation so it is almost impossible to plan for a holiday in advance. I think Zhang Lei should be supported for making a difficult choice.

She has five days holiday. what more do you want - a month off so the poor dear can take her time eating jiaozi?

I don't buy the claim that travel time to visit two sets of parents would be three days, even by plane.

Spring Festival is just an excuse for her to pack in her job, which she is perfectly entitled to do (although don't put it down to filial piety)

>>How should this contradiction be resolved?

That, indeed, rather than carping about his lead-up points, is the real question.

My humble suggestion is to resolve it the same way my family resolves the "4 sets of grandparents" issue (both parents divorce and remarry -- everyone is friends) at Xmas.

Simply: don't be obsessed about the actual day. If we agree that Spring Festival is "all about family" why should it matter if the get-together is the day before, the actual day, or a few days after?

In my family we usually have three or four events "around about" Xmas day. Because that's how we've always done it, that is now our Xmas tradition.

Many Chinese families already have two Spring Festival events, as the old "the woman becomes part of the man's family" thing isn't as strong as it once was.

Simply extend this trend, remember that it's all about family, and we can all avoid taking drastic steps in the name of filial piety.

This sort of thing is exactly why the entire country shuts down for about six weeks in January and February every year. I understand that they have an important traditional festival and all, but if you're a foreigner in China and you can't even find a damn noodle shop that's open (when they're normally 24 hrs), it gets kind of obnoxious.

In the article was the following phrase:"This is acting irresponsibly toward employers".
I rather think that it is the consequence of exploitation of emplyees by Chinese Employers/Government by not granting Chinese employees a number of holidays which are to be taken by employees as they like. In that case Zhang Lei could just have made her holidays a liitle bit longer and would not have to quit her job and the Employer would not have lost a well trained employee.
Here, in China, many people are living to work, while, in my opinion, one should work to live.

what are the Chinese going to do next year - I heard that the "golden weeks" are going to be ebolished?
Every employee in the normal working environment makes his own desicions when to take vacation. To sum up-I think that Zhang Lei is chldish and frankly - a bit stupid.

And long may the 24-hour noodle shops remain closed. Big city restaurants are often staffed by migrants who work seven days a week, all year round. Their families are often working in other parts of the country in the factories, building sites and mines that are driving China's economy. The only time of the year they get to rest and see other is Spring Festival. I think foreigners can put with cooking their own meals for a few days so these hardworking people can have one short break with their families and friends.

As for Zhang Lei, she had a choice and made it. I don't think her decision can be called right or wrong. It's just a choice that many people have to make in a changing world and it's not always an easy one. There are days set aside at Spring Festival to spend with the husband's family and the wife's. That works fine when both sets of parents live a bicycle ride apart. Not so easy if you have to catch a plane.

But not everyone is as lucky as Zhang Lei, with five days off. One of my colleagues hasn't been home for a year and a half because our employer doesn't give any holidays at all for the first year. When we're enjoying our meal in a restaurant or buying food in the supermarket over the next few days, we might spare a thought for the people who could be enjoying a well-earned rest with their families if we'd just done some shopping in advance.

"these would all be feasible in a European country but I don't know if they are possible here in China";
"I rather think that it is the consequence of exploitation of employees by Chinese Employers"
It all really boils down to the simple economics of supply and demand. In Western countries, labours are relative in shortage, while it's the exact opposite in China, with a labour surplus. I'd really like to see Chinese enjoying improved living standards comparable to Westerners, but I'm not sure if it's possible with the ridiculously high population level. That's why China needs pop control.

Also, regarding the issue of filial piety, Washington Post has a story today about migrant workers in China choosing to leave their families and kids back home in order to make more money in big cities because it (money) is more important. And the author argues that the notion that Chinese are family-centric is somewhat a myth. I can't say I disagree.

"Western" style labor practices, such as flexible holidays, are an outgrowth of successful industrialization, an established middle class, and a competitive job market where people aren't tied to their work for life. Of course, Chinese employers will eventually have to reform their labor practices, and Chinese families will have develop flexible interpretations of tradition that will accomidate economic reality.

The real question is, will the employers hold out for so long that it becomes a political issue (like housing, or the enviornment) or will market forces drive them to change before that?

>"Western" style labor practices, such as flexible holidays, are an outgrowth of successful industrialization, an established middle class, and a competitive job market

I think our militant and independent trade union movements had a bit of a hand in it there too.
Good on Zhang Lei for allowing human values to trump the fear of penury wage slavery holds over us; and stuff the system was so inflexible as to put her in the position to be forced to choose.
And as someone pointed out above, how stupid of her employer to lose a trained member of staff over something so small.

Jim, she was given a week long holiday to celebrate spring festival (and go shopping). How does that equate with slave labour?

She may or may not also get additional personal leave at other points in the year. All my Chinese colleagues do, although I know in some instances it is national holidays and that is all.

The point here is not some heroic worker taking on the mean capitalist, but how traditional vaulues are increasingly out of synch with modern lifestyles. Of course you can go down the path of the naive and buy the young lady's rather pathetic sob story, but you would be more than a little mistaken.

You might want to check the meaning of the term 'wage slavery' mike.

If your 'modern lifestyle' leaves no room for ordinary people to do ordinary things like see their family at New Year, it's not much cop, is it?

Societies make choices over how to regulate economic activity, and the better ones realise that most of us can lead fuller lives where putting in that extra day at the widget factory or ad agency mean less than seeing your ageing parents once a year. It's not like these aren't questions that pretty much every society addresses as it modernises.

jim. you also might want to check out the meaning of 'one week holiday', because that is how long the spoilt brat had to visit her parents. This 'modern lifestyle' you complain about gave her more than enough paid holiday to go about her family business.

And anyway, she was not a wage slave; as she proved when she made the decision to quit. now she is free to do what she wants.

I tend to agree with the exploitation by employers having seen this sort of thing committed when there are no clear enforcement of holiday rights. BTW, this sort of thing is quite common practice among Chinese employees as they see no other recourse from their inflexible employers. Which is what is played out in Guangdong factories to its spectacularly disastrous scenario of labour shortage due to workers unwilling to go back to their jobs after CNY.
On another note, would you quit your job in China if the company would not give holidays on Christmas and New Years? How would you feel about making wither decision?

yes, many workers in china are treated terribly by their employers (and in other news the titanic has just sunk) but that is not the issue here. not even close. this is about the changing attitudes to work by the younger generation, who are no longer loyal to the iron rice bowl.

for the umpteenth time, zhang lei was given five days holiday. she felt that was not enough and quit. she displayed a choice. she will probably find more work quite easily.

but to equate her selfish actions with any debate on worker conditions is taking attention away from the real problem.

and by the way, I have not had a christmas holiday in china for five years. I get on with it.