Another public holiday? Are you sure?

So today is public holiday number fifteen in Hong Kong (that's 15 out of 17, if I haven't already mentioned that previously) so Pies has been home with me today.

Today we're celebrating the National Day of the People's Republic of China which, before the British handed back Hong Kong to China in 1997, was a holiday to mark the anniversary of the victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War. Which sounds a lot more exciting if you ask me - the largest Asian war in the twentieth century, where 35 million Chinese people were either killed or wounded - surely deserves a day of remembrance?

Today's cause for celebration is not nearly as fun as the next one we're due (next week I think) which is for the Chung Yeung Festival and is a 'day for honouring the elderly and the deceased, and for mountain climbing.' What?? I can understand someone coming up with the bright idea of honouring the elderly and the deceased (especially considering how common multi-generational households are); but do the reasons have to be three-fold and the Public Holiday Decision officials had already been holed up for over a week, with no sleep and only bread and water to survive on? That's the only way I can understand the coupling of 'honouring the elderly' and 'mountain climbing' - does that mean the 'honoured' have to shinny up the nearest mountain? Maybe they have races...kind of like an old people's sportsday. On a mountain.

Anyway, back to the National Day of the People's Republic of China - thought I ought to educate you on the whys and wherefores, just in case it ever comes up in a pub quiz. The significance of the date is that the People's Republic was established on 1st October in 1949.

As usual with public holidays here, rather than you going out on the Sunday (before a bank holiday Monday) and enjoying a lengthy session of usually forbidden drinking, the government puts on a bit of a do, which usually involves fireworks, concerts and public areas being decorated.

Here in Honkers, it also means that every domestic helper in the land, the majority of whom are from the Philippines, congregates with her pals in public squares, parks, the overhead walkways and any other place that they won't get moved on by the police (i.e. they're not allowed to loiter inside the shopping malls). There, they kind of set up camp, with blankets or cardboard laid out on the floor (sometimes even propped up around them, a bit like a wind-breaker on the beach) and they bring mountains of food in tupperware boxes which is shared out, much like a picnic in the park. Usually, they do this every Sunday (owing to it being their only day off) but any public holiday is naturally a good reason to pack up the basket and skip down the lane, away from the brats you normally have to look after/house you normally have to clean.

Apparently, when the number of years since 1949 is a multiple of five (e.g. 45th, 50th, etc.) the official activities they put on are in a league of their own and a much grander affair than the other years. If I'm still writing this blog in a year's time (or more to the point, if you're still reading it), I'll let you know exactly what spread is laid out for the 60th anniversary!


picture source (the President of the People's Republic of China): http://www.nodulo.org/ec/2007/n069p15.htm