National Week

This week marks two holidays in the Chinese holiday: Mid-Autumn Festival, and National Week. My Lonely Planet City Guide on Shanghai tells me that the former is an “age-old festival,” also known as the Mooncake Festival, and that it’s “the time to give and receive delicious moon cakes stuffed with bean paste, egg yolk, coconut, walnuts and the like. Gazing at the moon, eating duck and lighting fireworks are popular activities; it’s also a traditional holiday for lovers.” So, will I be counting stars while nibbling on Chinese delicacies and watch my new friends send heart-shaped fireworks into the sky? Not exactly. I’ll be on a train. To Beijing. While Mooncake Festival takes place on one day, the founding of the People’s Republic of China is cause for more celebration. We get an entire week off school. I’ve been told that the entire country seems to travel during this time, which seems to be true seeing as all train journeys out of Shanghai were fully booked as of last week. Luckily, my flatmate and I were on time with our bookings, and so we’ll be boarding a super-speedy train to the capital this afternoon. I can’t wait.

I’ve packed my bags and I’m ready to go! Just one last thing… I’ve been trying to blog every other day (yes, I know I’ve failed miserably sometimes) since arriving in Shanghai, but I won’t have access to a computer in the hostel where we’re staying. I won’t be able to post anything this week, but a long one will follow when I’ve come back