This past week we did not have school on Thursday for the Mid- Autumn Festival which is regarded as the second most important festival in China after the Chinese New Year. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month according to Chinese Lunar calendar, which is the exact midst of autumn. The festival is an evening celebration when families gather together to light lanterns, eat moon cakes and appreciate the round moon. At night, the moon appears to be at its roundest and brightest, an auspicious symbol of abundance, harmony and luck. The full moon is also a symbol for family reunion, which is why that day is also known as the Festival of Reunion. Those who cannot return home watch the bright moon and feel deep longing for their loved ones.
Anyway, the moon was beautiful and Thursday was great. Friday teachers and students felt odd because the day felt like a Monday and a Friday! Holidays here are much like home as far as the quietness of the city. Many shops close and there are less cars on the street. As with many holidays here there are peculiar ways of awarding vacation days by the government. For this festival most workers had Thursday, Friday and Saturday off but were back to work on Sunday. As I went for a run before 7am this morning I was shocked to see kids in uniforms going to school and the traffic packed like a weekday. Shocked until I remembered what a day off must cost this economy from the governments perspective. So there is a chinese vacation for the second biggest holiday, three days off and then back to work for 6 in a row!
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