I'm Back (again)

Back in Beijing after 3 weeks, back on blogger after 3 months. Before coming home for the holidays I averaged a major illness or injury every 2 weeks: food poisoning, followed up by a severely sprained ankle, not to be outdone by a bout of the flu. All around the end of the semester sucked, bringing my total number of Beijing hospital visits to 6 (not counting follow-up visits).

Since then I've been healthy and happy and traveling, first to the Caribbean with my family and Vietnam and southern China during my winter break.

Vietnam was the perfect respite from the cold and pollution in Beijing I went to there with few expectations or preconceived notions. I simply knew it was close (to China at least), cheap, and not as heavily touristed as Thailand. What little I had read and researched about the country didn't really prepare me for my trip. Vietnam is incredibly beautiful, so beautiful that it breaks your heart to leave. The people we met were warm and outgoing (even when they're trying to squeeze a couple extra dollars out of us). Wherever you go there's an infectious energy in the air (besides bird flu) that lifts your spirit despite bone chilling winds in the north or sweltering heat down south.

I couldn't help but draw comparisons between China and Vietnam, two "communist" countries embarking on projects of economic reform and opening up. While China is wealthier and growing faster than Vietnam, people there aren't as hurried or harried as people in Beijing (I've got a lot of gripes about Beijing, but their are enough of those to fill a book). People in Vietnam seem to make it a point to enjoy life to it's fullest, whether they farm in the rural Northeast or own a business in Ho Chi Minh City. These are simply generalizations from about a year living in China and 2 weeks in Vietnam, but I'd readily take another trip south of the border, sooner rather than later. Here are some highlights from north to south:

Hooray for Communist Effeciency

So the National Day holiday is coming up quick (National day, October 1st, is roughly equivalent to our Independence Day and marks the founding of the P.R.C). The good news: I have a week off for the holiday. The bad news: so does practically the entire country. Imagine literally over a hundred million people crowding bus and train stations, all vying for precious hotel rooms and clamoring for a glimpse of famous sights around the country. There are three golden weeks in China during which the entire country goes on holiday (the other two being the May Day and Spring Festival celebrations). One of my teachers here told us a saying about the golden week holidays in China that roughly translates into the following: during golden week, adults look at the backs of heads while children stare at butts.

I understand having these sorts of national vacation periods back in the day when the government wanted to build national spirit and the people stayed in their town or village singing songs and such (I have no evidence that that is what happened back in the day, I'm just using my imagination). Nowadays, it seems like everyone and their uncle is planning to go to Inner Mongolia or some other "remote" destination.

I'm torn between wanting to take advantage of my only vacation time till Christmas and my aversion to large masses. If anyone has suggestions on good, low key National Day destinations, hook a brother up.