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Youth Day

Youth Day 2025, 2026 and 2027

Every 4 May is Youth Day in China, a half-day holiday observed by youths aged 14-28. This public holiday commemorates the revolutionary rallies led by Chinese youth in the early 1900’s.

YearDateDayHoliday
20254 MaySunYouth Day *
20264 MayMonYouth Day *
20274 MayTueYouth Day *
Please scroll down to end of page for previous years' dates.

Note: Youth Day is observed for half day by youths between age 14 to 28.

On 4 May, 1919, student protests in Beijing erupted in the wake of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I. The treaty, among other things, granted Japan control of Chinese territory in the Shandong Peninsula that Germany had held before the war. This enraged many Chinese who felt they had been betrayed.

Some of the students were arrested at first, but when protests spread and intensified, the Chinese government released the arrested student leaders.

The Fourth of May Movement came out of the protests. At first, it was a movement against imperialism and an attempt to reassert Chinese nationalism and culture. But it quickly diverted into a Communist ideology, and thus is seen as a beginning point to the establishment of the Communist People’s Republic of China.

In 1949, China established Youth Day as a public holiday to be observed every 4 May to remember the events of 1919 and all that followed them. There are special youth events, community service projects, and more organised all over China.

Previous Years

YearDateDayHoliday
20244 MaySatYouth Day *
20234 MayThuYouth Day *