五一劳动节，又称“五一国际劳动节”和“国际示威游行日”，是世界上80多个国家的全国性节日。定在每年的五月一日，它是全世界劳动人民共同拥有的节日。
那么劳动节是怎么来的呢？其实是在法国1889年5月1日在巴黎成立，在1889年7月，由恩格斯领导的第二国际在巴黎举行代表大会。 为了纪念美国工人一次“五一”大罢工，将每年的5月1日定为国际劳动节。 从那以后，全世界各国的工人团体都会在这一天举行盛大庆祝活动，而且，很多国家在这前后还会放假一天或者好几天。
每个国家过这个节日的方式不一样的，那我们看一下五月一日外国劳动节的来历和放假安排如何。
International Workers’ Day is a national holiday in more than 80 countries around the world. Set on the first of May, it’s a celebration of labourers and the working classes all over the world.
So how did that come about? It was actually founded in Paris on May first 1889, and in July 1889 the Second International Congress, led by Friedrich Engels, was held in Paris. In honour of a strike organised on May 1st by the workers, May 1 has been designated as the International Workers’ Day. Since then, a lot of workers’ groups around the world have celebrated this day with great enthusiasm, and many countries have established a day or more days of vacation.
Every country has its own way of celebrating this festival. Let’s have a look at the origin and holiday arrangement of the May 1st International Workers’ Day.
在中国劳动节是1918年来到了中国的，但1949年才成为了一个法定的全国性节日。在1949年，这个节日是三个黄金周之一，与春节和10月1日的国庆节一样的，而且在中国这个节日有五天的休息时间，以长假的形式来庆祝这个工人节日。
International Workers’ Day arrived to China in 1918, but became a national holiday in 1949. In 1949, the holiday was one of the three Chinese golden weeks, the same as for the Spring Festival and for the National Day on October 1, and it was a five-day holiday
然而，在2008年，由于在官方日历中增加了端午节，清明节和中秋节的全国性假期，五一假期时间减少了。尽管如此，劳动节还是被中国人认为是一个极好的旅游和休息机会，而且在这个时期，春天的气候非常适合旅游。从2019年开始，5月1日的节日有3天的假期，但是2020年，是劳动节第一次持续放了五天; 这使那些因为疫情而不得不取消春节旅行的人们就能趁机五月一日去旅行。
那今年呢? 好像今年“五一”小长假买车票，让不少网友感叹“太难”, 甚至有人表示，买票困难程度堪比春节。
However, in 2008, since the Government added the Dragon Boat Festival, the Qingming Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival as national holidays, the holiday period was reduced. Despite this, the International Workers’ Day is considered by the Chinese to be an excellent opportunity for travel and rest, and it’s also true that in spring weather is almost always perfect for traveling. From 2019, the International Workers’ Day was a three-day holiday, but in 2020, it lasted five days; this allowed those who had to cancel their spring festival travel because of the epidemic to travel on May 1.
What about this year? It seems that buying tickets during the Workers’ Day holiday has made many netizens lament that it is "too difficult", and some even said that the difficulty of buying tickets is comparable to that of the Spring Festival.
即使是与2019年春节相比，今年“五一”小长假的车票同样不落下风。《2021年“五一”假期居民出行预测报告》预测，4月30日至5月5日共6天，全国铁路、民航及道路的客流量将达到2.5亿人次左右。其中，热门铁路客运线路客流量预计将超过2019年同期水平。而此前报道，为期40天的2019年铁路春运，全国铁路累计发送旅客4.1亿人次。
Even compared with the Spring Festival in 2019, the tickets for this year’s Workers’ Day “mini-holiday” are no less favourable. The “Workers’ Day holiday travel forecast report” predicts that from April 30 to May 5, a total of six days, the National Railway, the civil aviation and road passenger traffic will reach about 250 million people. Among them, the passenger flow of popular railway lines is expected to exceed the level of the same period in 2019. Previously, it was reported that during the 40-day railway Spring Festival transportation in 2019, the national railways sent 410 million passengers.
在美国劳动节也是美国全国性重要的节日，为9月的第一个星期一，放假一天，以示对劳工的尊重。
1882年，美国木工兄弟会主席彼得•麦奎尔首先提出设立一个劳动节。同年，美国劳动骑士团也通过同样的决定，并在纽约举行了庆祝游行。1884年，劳动骑士团进一步决定，每年劳动节都要举行游行等庆祝活动。同一年，美国国会正式宣布劳动节为全国性节日。
到1887年2月，俄勒冈州第一个通过立法确定劳动节为法定节日，紧接着卡罗来纳、新泽西、纽约、马萨诸塞各州也通过了同样的立法，均把劳动节的日期定为9月的第一个星期一。
In the United States, Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday of SeptemberThe holiday was first proposed n 1882, by Peter Macquhirr, president of the American Brotherhood of Woodworkers,. That same year, the Knights of Labor adopted the same decision and held a parade in New York. In 1884, the Knights of Labor further decided to hold annual parades and other celebrations on Labor Day and the U. S. Congress officially established Labor Day as a national holiday.
Oregon became the first state to enact an official recognition of Labor Day on February 21, 1887 and four more states followed Oregon’s lead By 1890 twenty-three additional states adopted the holiday. The U.S. Congress designated the first Monday in September of each year an official holiday for workers.
美国的劳动节也叫“劳工节”，旨在进一步重视和保护普通劳工的工作权益，在每年9月的第一个星期一举行， 算上周末，一共放假三天。这是一个非常不错的小长假了，美国人自然抓住夏季最后一个小长假，和家人一起出行、开派对或者户外体育活动等。同样在节假日美国的大城市就迎来出城高峰，出城的快速路、高速路也会出现不同程度的拥堵。
The US Labor Day aims to further attach importance to and protect the work rights of ordinary workers, held in the first Monday of September each year, has a total of three days vacation. It’s a great little vacation of which Americans take advantage to hang out with family, organise parties, or play outdoor sports. Moreover, there are many people who decide to travel in big American cities. Therefore these three days of vacation are always characterised by highway traffic.
而意大利劳动节在意大利也是全国性节日。五一意大利人很喜欢跟朋友们一起去公园吃夜餐，也有人喜欢开始享受春天的温暖天气，去海边散步，在海边跟亲友一起吃饭。
因为五一意大利人放假一天，所以一般没有很多人去很远的地方旅游，但有很多人会安排比较近的意大利景点一日游。
International Workers’ Day is also a national holiday in Italy. May 1st Italians like to go to the park with friends, to the restaurants and some people start to enjoy the warm spring weather, going to the seaside for a walk.
Because Italian people only have a day of vacation, so generally there are few people who organise a large trip away, they prefer to arrange a one-day tour.
那你们呢? 你们怎么庆祝劳动节? 是在节假日出去玩放松一下，还是害怕人山人海而宅家呢？
What about you guys? How do you celebrate International Workers’ Day? Do you like to hang out during this holiday, or do you prefer to stay at home maybe because you’re afraid of crowds and tourist destinations?
