Two weeks ago we had the Mid-Autumn Festival; today we have National Day with its accompanying Golden Week. Is it me, or does China have a lot of national holidays? Since I’m not really Chinese and I don’t benefit from days off of work/school all I am left with is minor inconveniences. Does this sound like an Andy Rooney segment? My main indicator for an upcoming holiday is the 40 minute wait in line at all major supermarkets, any time of day, that starts a week or so beforehand. Then there are the perplexing jam-packed subway cars in the middle of weekday afternoons. Also, let’s not forget the noticeable rise in cost of pretty much all consumer goods. When all three of these phenomena are present, I know there is a holiday coming on; it’s kind of like triangulation. It might be easier for me to just look at a calendar every now and then and take note of the upcoming holidays, but I like getting myself in tune with my surroundings and figuring things out myself; it makes me feel like I am learning something.
Instead of lamenting the crowds this week, I’m going to try to take advantage of anything potentially exciting happening in the area. So far I’ve compiled a list of events that I found on various Chinese websites, the most promising sounding ones being a street dance-off competition and a “beautiful food” festival on nearby Baiyun Mountain. I’m hoping the latter is something like an organic farmers market with seasonal items, because I LOVE buying produce. However, I’m not going to get my hopes up because this is China and it might turn out to be some kind of corporate-sponsored dairy festival.
WHO’S UP FOR A DAIRY CHALLENGE?
