Several Chinese universities have offered longer spring breaks to their students to encourage them to enjoy the great outdoors and find love, a move that some Chinese say could be the country’s strategy to revive the declining birth rate.
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The week-long holiday is an extension of China’s one-day national holiday of the Qingming Festival, when families clean the tombstones of deceased loved ones and make offerings, according to Global News.
Nine universities have announced that they will extend the holidays from April 1st to April 7th this year.
Students are instructed to keep track of the activities they did while on vacation with travel journals, daily vlogs and photos, all of which are then viewed in class.
A note with the instruction “enjoy flowers and fall in love” is to be distributed to enable teachers, students and employees to have a meaningful holiday.
This initiative has responded to the populace on social media, which they see as the government’s strategy as part of its recent efforts to revive the country’s birth rate.
China’s birth rate has been falling for several years, with last year being the first in decades when the death rate exceeded births.
China has dragged itself into a demographic hole with its one-child policy enforced between 1980 and 2015, although the limit was raised in 2021 and families are allowed to have up to three children.