暑期

• Pinyin: shǔ qī
• Hanzi breakdown: 暑 = 日 + 者 (sun + one who — summer heat); 期 = 其 + 月 (a span + month — a period of time)

Meaning

The summer period; summer vacation, especially of schools and universities.

Refers to the hot summer months (typically July–August in mainland China) during which educational institutions are on break. Common in educational, tourism, and childcare contexts. 暑期班 (summer class), 暑期实习 (summer internship), 暑期游 (summer tourism).

Examples

1. 教育部近年来持续强化对校外培训机构暑期课程的监管力度，明确禁止在暑期开展学科类培训活动，以切实减轻中小学生的课外学习负担。 In recent years, the Ministry of Education has continued to tighten oversight of summer courses offered by after-school tutoring institutions, explicitly banning academic subject tutoring during the summer in order to reduce the extracurricular study burden on primary and secondary students.
2. 各大高校图书馆为满足在校留守学生和社区学习者在暑期的阅览需求，制定了专项开放计划，并推出了系列学术讲座和技能提升工作坊。 To meet summer reading needs for students who remain on campus and for community learners, university libraries have introduced special opening plans and launched a series of academic lectures and skill-building workshops.
3. 暑期旅游旺季到来，热门景区客流激增，考验着承载力管理和服务质量。 With the peak summer travel season arriving, visitor numbers at popular attractions are surging, putting capacity management and service quality to the test.

Usage Guide

Context: education, tourism, employment, childcare

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 高校常在暑期组织学生赴海外高校交流，拓宽国际视野，提升跨文化能力。(Universities often organize students to study at overseas universities during the summer, broadening their international outlook and improving cross-cultural skills.)
• 应届毕业生利用暑期实习的比例逐年上升，企业也越来越看重实习表现。(The share of fresh graduates taking summer internships is rising year by year, and companies are also placing more weight on internship performance.)

Don't Say

• 暑期 when referring to a general hot summer period outside an educational context — use 盛夏 (the height of summer) or 夏季 (summer season) instead; 暑期 specifically refers to the school summer vacation period, and using it loosely to describe any hot-weather period may cause ambiguity

Origin & History

暑 (summer heat — 日 sun + 者 one who: the hot season) + 期 (period; phase — 其 a span + 月 month)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal