https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/festival/national.htm
This is the only national holiday which
is not a “traditional” one as it celebrates the foundation of the
Republic. Therefore it is the only one in which the Chinese do not
seem to feel obliged to return to the place of their birth and eat
dumplings with their parents, electing to go on holiday somewhere.
Last year all my friends maintained the utter pointlessness of trying
to travel anywhere at this time owing to the vast crowds that
apparently will be everywhere! So in casting around for ideas
regarding how to spend this week I'm advised that if I feel I must
travel, it would be best to go to a little-known area which is not
beset by tourists.
The Chinese themselves when I asked
what they intend to do, reply with “No particular plan” or
“nothing to do, just be lazy”: what I suppose I expected was
something like “Celebrate the Republic”: “watch the
processions” or “visit the Great Wall” etc. There are vast
processions in Tiananmen Square and military demonstrations, so I
imagine many Chinese do watch these. I see some of them in the shacks round the campus watching it on TV.
Taking my friends' advice I decide to
plan a trip to Mancheng, a “small” town about 16 miles from
Baoding centre, where there is a mountainous region and some Han
Dynasty tombs. I book a hotel online for 2 nights and look into
travel options which are: bus (apparently 3 hours, which seems
improbable) taxi (expensive but possible) or cycle (potentially
hazardous but achievable). In the end I decide to try to travel by
bike as it will be easier to get around when I am there.
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