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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Hong Kong

The list of Hong Kong bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2008, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

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06 Aug 2008 (Bloomberg) Earlier this morning, the level 8 cyclone warning was raised in Hong Kong, in expectation of cyclone Kammuri's passage later in the day. In response, the government of Hong Kong closed government offices and schools for the day. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange also extended its earlier morning-only suspension of trading to also include the afternoon session, and the Hong Kong Association of Banks announced that all banks in the Hong Kong will be closed for the day. • 23 Apr 2007 (Asia News) For the first time, yesterday, Beijing has stated that it was in support of replacing one of Hong Kong's 3 Easter-related public holidays with a public holiday to mark Confucius' birthday. • 23 Oct 2006 The birth of China's ancient philosopher Confucius could become a public holiday in Hong Kong, according to media reports Tuesday. Hong Kong is considering shortening the three-day Easter break by one day in order to make way for the celebration of Confucius' birth later in the year. Depending on which calendar is observed, his birth is celebrated either on the 27th day of the eighth lunar month or September 28 as in Taiwan. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Hong Kong public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Governing Law: Official public holidays in Hong Kong are regulated by the General Holidays Ordinance (Chapter: 149, Gazette Number: 35 of 1998), which came into effect starting in 1999, and replaced or amended the Holidays Ordinance (1997 and 1998) Sections 2(2) and (3) and 3(1) and (2). (Cap. 534). • Statutory Holidays: The Employment Ordinance, Cap. 57 (Statutory Holidays) of Hong Kong's labour legislation earmarks 12 of the general public holidays as statutory holidays. This legislation, apart from specifying which holidays must be paid to employees, also mentions that employees have the option, in agreement with their employer, to choose between Christmas Day (December 25) and Dongzhi (Winter Solstice according to the Chinese Solar Calendar, around the 22nd of December) as one of their 12 statutory holidays, although Dongzhi is not one of the official public holidays in Hong Kong. • Ching Ming: The case of the Ching Ming public holiday, which can on occasion fall on the same date as one of the Easter-related holidays, is addressed by the 1998 General Holidays Ordinance. • Sunday is not a work day. Public holidays falling on a Sunday are generally moved to the following Monday. • Saturday is not an official day off; however, many companies give their employees the whole day or half a day off. • 2008 Olympics: Although, officially taking place in Beijing, a rash of equine diseases and substandard quarantine procedures in China forced Beijing to hand the equestrian events to Hong Kong, which has a well-established racing circuit. Hong Kong is planning to spend up to US$20 million to stir up Olympic fever, and is planning to set up two large television screens in parks on both sides of Hong Kong's harbor where people could follow the Beijing Games. • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: Hong Kong Monetary Authority (Hong Kong central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (maps, demographic and economic statistics), Copp Clark (financial markets' trading hours, settlement holidays and currency non-clearing days), and the IFES Election Guide (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and past voter participation).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Hong Kong, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world. Aft=Afternoon, Arm=Armenian, Bah=Bahai, Bnk=Banks and most financial institutions, Bud=Buddhist, Cat=Catholic, Chr=Christian, Cop=Coptic, Eve=Evening, Gov=Government services and civil servants, Hin=Hindu, Jew=Jewish, Lin=Linguistic or ethnic groups, Mor=Morning, Mun=Municipal, Mus=Muslim, Orth=Orthodox, Othr=Miscellaneous partial observances (usually described in the Additional Information section of this page), Prt=Protestant, Reg=Regional, Rel=Other Religion, Sch=Schools and universities, Sik=Sikh.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2008 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Hong Kong, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Hong Kong, before planning any trip to Hong Kong. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.