A Different National Day for a Different People

The National Day celebration is one of the major holidays for the Chinese people. To mark this holiday we have a seven-day vacation. This is not only an opportunity for celebration but also a chance to have a good rest, travel, or get together with family.

However, for the majority of people who live in the countryside, there is very little opportunity for rest. The National Day week means the autumn harvest is coming. Thus, the village people who work in factories all over the country will spend their holiday working for fifteen days collecting the corn and wheat at home. So, if you ever were wondering, this is the reason why Chinese factories typically would rather not like to receive orders just before the holiday season, as much of their staff can be away for as many as 15 days helping their family with the harvest. This can be painstakingly tedious work. In the flatter areas, there are reaping machines to help with the collecting. However, in the more mountainous areas, the people must collect them by hand. What’s worse is that many do not go through the efforts to pace themselves, giving themselves no opportunity to relax.

This holiday provides an interesting perspective into the contrast between Chinese life in the city and of that in the villages. While those of us in the cities are able to enjoy our holidays in the more “traditional” way, we also should remember that there are still many hard working people who work not only on the factory floor but also in the fields. We should give thanks to these men and women who do this work, who keep our country going, who make possible the opportunities that exist in the city, and who truly give us a reason to celebrate on this special Chinese holiday.

• Steven Wang- CPG Quality Control Inspector