October 1st

October 1st is the PRC's "July 4th" - it's national founding day. It's a holiday in China but they've stretched the holiday into a week-long rest called "Golden Week". Offices and factories close for the entire week and most Chinese travel home to be with family. The national day celebrates the day Mao stood in Tiananmen and declared the People's Republic of China. I'd link you to the explanation of the event description on Wikipedia but Wikipedia is banned and blocked by the Chinese Internet censors. The unvarnished truth isn't so welcome in the PRC. For those of you that live in the free world you can see the Wikipedia entry here.

While office and factory workers get the week off, retail employees and laborers don't. As I walk around Shanghai on these holiday days I see many workers carrying on as usual. Construction workers, repairmen, shop clerks and many others are working away as usual. I heard a few fireworks last night but it was nothing compared to the new year's day celebration. There are a few special October 1st programs on TV and a few more PRC flags displayed in buses and taxis but beyond that I don't see much of a celebration.