China’s Golden Week 2026: will your supplier still ship orders?

If you need goods from China in late September or early October, confirm your supplier's last dispatch date now. Mainland China's National Day holiday runs October 1–7, with a separate Mid-Autumn break on September 25–27. Factory closures vary, and some ocean departures have already been cancelled. Your order's timing depends on the warehouse and transport schedule as well as the factory.

How many days will suppliers be off?

The official mainland China calendar gives these dates:

September 20 and October 10 are designated make-up working days. These dates come from the official 2026 holiday calendar.

For National Day, a week is a useful planning assumption until your supplier confirms its schedule. It is not a verified average factory closure. Some businesses suspend operations; others work with fewer staff. Freight company DACHSER, for example, says its China operations will close October 1–7 and resume October 8. That is its own schedule, not a promise about your supplier. DACHSER's September 9 notice

Ask whether your supplier will also close on September 28–30. The two official holidays are separate; don't assume either a continuous 13-day shutdown or three fully staffed working days between them.

Can I place an order during the holiday?

Before paying, ask when the order will be processed and handed to the carrier. Being able to submit an order does not establish a dispatch date.

Find out where the goods are now. An item waiting to be manufactured needs a production slot. Finished stock at a warehouse needs staff to pack it and a carrier to collect it. A sales contact replying to messages cannot, by itself, confirm that either is happening.

For dropshipping, ask about the warehouse handling individual customer orders. A factory's holiday dates alone won't answer whether those parcels can leave.

Will everything be delayed by seven days?

There is no reliable blanket number. An order dispatched before the break may have a different outcome from one waiting for production or collection. Once work resumes, ask where your order sits in the queue.

Ocean schedules can be affected outside the holiday itself. Maersk's August 20 notice lists cancelled China–Europe departures from Qingdao on September 28, Ningbo on October 8 and Shanghai on October 10. These are specific sailings, not a shutdown of every service. Maersk's Golden Week schedule notice

If you're shipping by sea, ask your freight forwarder, the company arranging transport, to confirm the booked departure and any replacement sailing. Those ocean cancellations do not establish a delay for a parcel sent by air.

Is it too late to get an order out before the break?

That depends on the order. Ask your supplier to confirm these steps for your goods:

1. When production will finish, or whether finished stock is available and reserved for you.
2. When inspection and packing will be complete.
3. The last carrier collection or cargo acceptance date your order can meet.
4. The expected departure, confirmed by whoever is arranging transport.

Don't use September 30 as a universal deadline. A warehouse or transport service may have an earlier cutoff. If a new production order cannot meet those dates, get a realistic post-holiday schedule before paying for a rush order.

What should I send my supplier now?

Please confirm your factory and dispatch warehouse closure dates for Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, including whether you will work September 28–30.

For my products and open orders, which quantities are finished and reserved, and which still need production? What is the last date you can hand them to the carrier before closing?

When will dispatch resume, and what date do you expect my remaining orders to leave? Please also confirm who I should contact about an urgent order during the break.

If you arrange transport separately, send the confirmed cargo-ready date to your freight forwarder and ask which departure it can meet. Ask for the expected departure date for your shipment in writing.