Golden Week

This past week has been a holiday week. The October Golden Week is a week-long holiday celebrating Chinese National Day--the day the People's Republic of China was founded. Schools were closed and the Chinese traveled all over the country, but everything else seemed to be business as usual with lots of appliance sales and celebratory consumerism.

The holiday was a bit of a surprise to us, and we were both informed about the week off just a few days before the vacation started. We were also surprised to learn that we would have classes the weekend before the week to make up for classes missed during the week off. We didn't have enough time to plan a trip, so we decided to spend the week getting to know Shanghai.

Peter celebrated National Day with his first Chinese haircut. Things in China are changing rapidly, but it's nice to know that some services are still available on a very local level. This barber shop is located in the neighborhood next to ours. One night we were riding home at around 10:30 and noticed the barber's door was open and he was watching historic soap operas. Peter pantomimed that he wanted his head shaved and for 50 cents the man obliged.

We also took in some of the sites. We visited the fabric market where I found the man who made Peter some hats almost two years ago. He remembered the request and hand-tailored three more. What a wonderful service. He sews everything by hand and they are just beautiful. We also visited a buddhist temple, which was a peaceful repose from the throngs of people everywhere in Shanghai for the holiday. The temple was beautiful--a taste of what China looks like apart from the modern sky-reach of Shanghai. We visited with our friend Alejandra who is Buddhist, but because she is also Chilean is not a vegetarian.

At the end of the week, we went on an excursion with Grant and Gina and Winston to a park, where we actually saw the ocean that was reported to be nearby. The sea is easily forgotten in Shanghai. We never smell it and we never see it. The semi-unobstructed view of the horizon was refreshing, but the sea here is no Puget Sound. Imagine all the industrial waste from the mythical Yangtze toilet flushing into a body of water jammed with the some of the world's largest container ships. It was nice to get out of the city nevertheless and we experienced a very authentic cattle-car type Chinese ferry ride on the way back to town.

On Friday night we took our South American friends to a large "spa," the expanse and scope of which I don't have the time to describe here. It started out normal enough with naked soaking with Chinese people in rose-water pools, but eventually we were in matching pajamas, drinking Reeb in a row of plush recliners, watching Russian women dance poorly in costumes (thonged costumes). No cameras allowed, I'm afraid. Ah China.

Back to school again today and just in time as a new typhoon is pounding Shanghai and vacation is officially over.