Enjoying a Holiday Break in China

Wow, time flies by fast when you're living in a new country.  I can't believe I let a whole month slip underneath me without blogging about China.  I hope I don't let that happen again.

This past week, all schools in China are on a break.  They call it a National Day Break when always occurs the week on October 1.  What is National Day?  I realized I had no clue so I did some research with my trusty and reliable friend-- Google.

This holiday is a public holiday for the People's Republic of China to celebrate their national day and founding of People's Republic of China.  It is three days long, but for many schools they get the week off. This holiday is celebrated throughout all of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.  How do people celebrate? There are many festivities such as fireworks, parades, and concerts.  The fireworks are constant and people are always lighting them up all day.  The noise can get very loud and it's not a pleasant sound to wake up to.

Many Chinese will use this holiday to travel.  I had to travel to Beijing for a few days for a teacher's conference.  Afterwards I visited the Summer Palace with the other new staff from my school.

Since I had a whole week off, I had the chance to visit new locations of my city I am currently living in.

Summer Palace, on kunming Lake

With my roommate on a paddle boat

Went to visit Ancient Culture Street: lots of touristy things to buy and eat

Went on a Riverboat cruise in my city-- Tianjin

The Tianjin Eye. There were a lot of Chinese lanterns floating for the National Day holiday.

I just updated my calendar and it looks like I have a more exciting things planned this month and I will commit to share my experiences with you soon!

Read about my first blog post on another blog I contribute for.  This blog (Global Teachers Connect) is written by teachers who teach in different countries all over the world. :)

Cheers!