- Chinese nationals are off work for the next eight days.
- Literally, everyone apart from the crucial service providers would not be at their offices until Monday, October 9.
Image: XINHUA
Care for a holiday? Well, China could be your place to be for the next one week.
Chinese nationals are off work for the next eight days for celebrations to mark the mid-autumn festival and national day.
Literally, everyone apart from the essential service providers would not be at their offices until Monday, October 9.
The Asian country’s streets have been painted red with lamps, as well as with the country’s five-star flag.
Every public space – from train stations to green spaces - is literally crowded as families get together for events to mark the special days.
Cao Xiating of CGTN says “It is a time to feel the buzz of life” much as “it is crowded everywhere.”
“People are happy to join the crowd. For me, I am still busy but I’m happy to be with my family,” she told the Star on Friday.
Fu Xuechun, a student at Jining University, says she also will leave the classroom and travel about 200 kilometers to be with her kinsmen.
“I will use the time to meet up with friends, go shopping, talk with my family, and have dinners as we watch the moon,” she said.
The same are stories for many Chinese nationals who religiously observe the festival every year.
The Autumn Festival centres around the moon – which has significance in Chinese culture since ancient times, and also symbolizes brightness and softness.
“It is also a God’s witness of man’s doing,” a brief to journalists in the China International Press Communication Centre (CIPCC) exchange progamme on the festival reads.
The festival dates back to the Tang Dynasty in AD 618-907 and has been handed down through the centuries to date.
“From ancient times, it has been customary for Chinese to reunite with family members and enjoy sweet mooncakes while looking up at the beautiful moon,” the brief reads.
“On Mid-Autumn night, the full moon hangs in the sky, symbolizing the reunion and harmony of Chinese people. Therefore, Mid-Autumn Festival customs include appreciating the moon, drinking osmanthus wine, and of course, eating mooncakes.”
The Chinese National Day, which also coincides with the mid-autumn festival, is also to be marked.
It is also known as the eleventh, China National Day and National Day Golden Week, and has been marked every October 1 since 1950 – which was the first anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
“Since then, every year on October 1 has become a national people of all ethnic groups to celebrate the holiday,” the brief adds.
“On this day, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians took part in the opening ceremony of the People's Republic of China in Tiananmen Square, Beijing.”
To mark the day, the streets are decorated with lanterns and colours. Businesses and institutions hang up lanterns or banners to celebrate the big day.
Private cars, which usually pay tolls, are not charged anything to use the highways as people usually use the vacation to visit the countryside, as well as mountains and rivers.
The military would also conduct a parade to show the country’s prowess and national defence “so that the people feel a strong sense of pride”.
Every national day, residents of Beijing go to Tiananmen Square to see the hoisting of the country’s flag.
“People rush to the Tiananmen Square early to see soldiers of the National Flag Banner hoisting the flag to express the incomparable love for the motherland, watching the five-starred red standard rising,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry said.