Madness, madness, they call it madness…..

So tomorrow is ‘national day’ in China, a universally celebrated public holiday commemorating the founding of the Communist party and marking the start of 4 days public vacation. In keeping with the way things are done in China, they go big. When the holiday comes around, the cities shut down & everyone heads out either home or to the major tourist spots. It’s estimated that half of China’s 1.37 Billion population travel on national day, and as a result the infrastructure goes into meltdown. Most of the teachers who have experienced this are either staying put or getting out of China for a few days. Myself & Leighton (my flatmate & fellow teacher) are unwisely heading for Hangzhou, one of China’s most popular tourist spots and the holiday destination of choice for (according to the news) for 11 million people in the next four days (over double it’s standard population) The reason for this is the stunningly picturesque West Lake which we will be staying a 2 minute walk from. I’ll do a full report with pictures once I get back but I know that the hostel we’re staying at (and every hotel under $250 a night) is fully booked out and I’ve been warned about a minimum 2-hour wait to do anything of interest so it may be a blog full of pictures of the back of other peoples heads. Still, if we British love anything its a good queue! That said, I think I better pack a book. Or two……

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