Today is Sunday and we are finishing up a week of vacation due to the Chinese National Day holiday which is celebrated on October 1. National Day begins one of the two "Golden Weeks" in China the other one being Spring Festival. During these weeks everyone in China gets a vacation and most people make the trip back to their hometown. Consequently, it is almost impossible to travel in China during these times since railway and bus stations become mob scenes and everything is sold out.

Sean and I did a little bit of traveling and but also just enjoyed not having classes after having worked three weeks straight thanks to a recent nationwide policy of having to work on weekends to make up for the holiday. We were very happy that our friend, Qin Chen, invited us to visit her hometown of Nan Tong which is about three hours away and quite a bit smaller and more rural than the metropolis of Changzhou.

We took a bus on the 2nd to try and avoid some of the crowds and arrived in Nan Tong around lunch time. Qin Chen took us to her aunt and uncle's house and we had lunch and relaxed until later in the day when we went out to explore the city. I found it really refreshing to be in such a smaller place; there was less noise, less traffic and the people were very friendly and intensely interested in where we were from and what we were doing there.


Later that evening we met Qin Chen's extended family at a large dinner to celebrate the birthday of her cousin. It was so special to be able to meet her parents and grandparents who were an absolute riot and it gave me a better idea of where Qin Chen came from and why she is the person that she is. As usual, the amount of food was staggering and Qin Chen's uncles gave Sean a run for his money in the drinking and smoking department. All throughout dinner they were watching him and sizing him up to see what he was made of while constantly toasting him and forcing cigarettes on him. In Chinese culture, manliness, it seems, can be determined by the amount of bai jiu one can stomach followed by the affinity for smoking. Fortunately, women are not pressured by this at all but instead are allowed to sit back and watch the shenanigans unfold.


The first night we stayed at Qin Chen's uncle's house and we crashed pretty early since the next day we had plans to attend a wedding - an all-day event that I was super excited for!

1 Comment

1. Erica on October 10, 2010 at 3:50 AM

   I am highly amused looking a the picture of Sean and that tiny cup!! :)