Yup, you read the title of this post correctly. For the vast majority of the world, Labor Day takes place on May 1. We were lucky enough to have a three-day weekend this year--a true three-day weekend, not the Chinese version of it!*--and spent Monday at a nearby park with friends. "Park" in English and Chinese mean different things, though. In America, a park is a place with lots of green grass, picnic tables, playground equipment, a baseball diamond, and maybe a hiking trail or two. Parks in China are more like well-landscaped city squares. The grass is for looking at, not walking on, and much of the space is covered in concrete. Large groups of people gather there to sing patriotic songs, dance, or practise
tai qi. This particular park was worth going a bit out of our way for, since it also had a decent sized pond, boat rides, carnival rides, and activities for kids. Thanks for inviting us, Rick and Julie!
*The Chinese version of a three-day weekend is to shift the five-day work week from Monday through Friday to Sunday through Thursday, thus allowing workers to have the following Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off work. It's obviously not a true vacation since you don't get any extra days off work, but the Chinese still get pretty excited about it. Most of us expats either roll our eyes at the sillyness of it all or develop a rather bitter attitude, depending upon the state of culture shock we are in when the three-day weekend falls.
