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National Day Holiday in China

If you plan on being in China during National Day Holiday, expect hoards of tour groups and flocks of Chinese tourists everywhere. This is not an exaggeration. From past years' statistics, over 60 million people hit the road during the "Seven-Day Golden Week," booking over two-thirds of all major hotels throughout the country. The airlines, bus, and train stations will certainly be swamped, not to mention all the main tourist sites like Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall. Prices double and triple on just about everything.

Oh, did we mention, it's best to avoid traveling in the Middle Kingdom during National Day Holiday, which begins October 1.

What is National Day?

The People's Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949, with a ceremony at Tiananmen Square, where Chairman Mao declared the founding of the Republic and waved the first five-star PRC Flag before 300,000 cheering onlookers.

The National Day Holiday is celebrated throughout Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau with a variety of government organized festivities, including fireworks (of course), military parades, banquets, and concerts. Public areas like Tiananmen Square are decorated with flags and flowers. Portraits of revered leaders, such as Sun Yat-Sen, Zhou Enlai, and Mao Zedong are displayed and honored.

National pride is especially running high this year in wake of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

If you're in China during the first week of October, stay put - you'll be glad you did. If you must travel - try to get out of the country! That way, at least you'll only be fighting crowds on your departure and return.

Time in Mandarin: the SPEAK E-Z Way!

For telling time, the Chinese say the number and add the word dee-en, which basically means "point of time." To mark the half hour, you simply add the word bahn, which means "half."

You can download our free audio files that cover time and the calendar in Chapter VI. of SPEAK E-Z CHINESE In Phonetic English. As always, they're available at our site: www.CathayCafe.com. And remember: We're on your way!

Dialing In and Out of China

The country code of China is 86. Each Chinese city has its own area code and different zip code. Below are the different ways you can dial Chinese numbers:

Dialing China from Abroad: To call China from abroad with a fixed telephone, dial the outbound number of your country + 86 (the country code of China) + area code of the Chinese city + fixed Chinese telephone number. To call a mobile phone number, dial the outbound number of your country + 86 + mobile phone number.

To call China from abroad with a cell phone: Dial the outbound number of your country + 86 (the country code of China) + area code of the Chinese city + fixed Chinese telephone number. To call a mobile phone number, dial the outbound number of your country + 86 + mobile phone number.

Dialing within China: To call a fixed telephone number in a Chinese city from another Chinese city 0, then area code + fixed telephone number. To call a mobile phone number dial 0 + mobile phone number.

To call a fixed telephone number in a Chinese city from another Chinese city, dial 0 + area code + fixed telephone number. To call a mobile phone number, dial the mobile phone number directly without 0 prefix.

Note: Different countries require different outbound prefix numbers. For example, US and Canada: 011; Europe (including England): 00; Asia: some areas such as Saudi Arabia: 00; others (such as Seoul) are 001; Australia: 0011, Africa: 09…

Major Chinese Cities and their Area Codes:

Chinese Exercises:
What's Truly Going On

Most of the strange behavior you see in parks at early dawn throughout China is some form of tai chi (tye-chee) or qi gong (chee kohng), energetic breathing. Many of these exercises have been passed on from mother to daughter, father to son, and teacher to disciple. They're the living remnants of ancient exercise traditions that have long been associated with Chinese philosophy and religious beliefs. Tai chi and Qigong combine simple, graceful movements and meditation.

Qigong, which dates to the middle of the first millennium B.C., is a series of integrated exercises believed to have positive, relaxing effects on a person's mind, body and spirit. Tai Chi is a holistic form of exercise, and a type of Qigong that melds Chinese philosophy with martial and healing arts.

It is the goal of every qi gong exercise to enhance free flow of qi. Modern research shows qi gong exercises can address many areas of pain, including premenstrual pain and cramping, head, neck, shoulder and back pain, headaches/migraines, wrist pain, and side effects of chemotherapy and chronic diseases like multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia.

The main idea behind these exercises is to restore the balance of "qi" or vital energy in the body. Here are just a few of the ways folks here like to do that:

Walking Backwards: China's ancient Mountain and Sea scripture records the exploits of an immortal who could walk backward faster than the eye could see. Walking backward has been popular ever since. The movement exercises muscles that are not used in ordinary walking, especially in the back, waist, thighs, knees and lower legs. Some people believe walking backwards is akin to a karmic reverse, allowing you to correct mistakes and sins of the past. A version of the walking backward exercise is the walking-backward-while-rolling-magnetic-balls-around-your-hands movement. The magnetic balls electro-magnetically massage acupuncture points in the palms and give aging wrists good exercise.

Walking Barefooted: Strolling without shoes is recorded as a health enhancer in some of China's earliest texts. All of the body's major acupuncture meridians connect with the soles of the feet, so traditional Chinese medical wisdom encourages walking barefoot to massage the meridians and maintain optimal health.

Standing on One's Head: In past dynasties this was a favorite health maintenance method among China's Buddhist monks and Taoist priests. Meditating while standing on one's head increases blood circulation to the brain and promotes clear thinking.

Primal Screaming: No, it's not someone being murdered behind a bush, it's a nice old lady getting rid of all the bad qi inside her body. Shouting at the top of your lungs can balance, purge, circulate and nurture the body's internal energy and strengthen the major organs: heart, liver, kidney, gall bladder and lungs. Dawn and late evenings are the best times to practice this technique. An early morning scream can flush the fatigue from your system. A primal scream before bed can cleanse the "sea of energy" that builds up below your navel.

Tree Slapping: In addition to breathing in the fresh air around trees, this activity purges bad qi from the body. This fun, cathartic activity has been banned in various parks in Beijing because of the damage done to the trees.

Bird-Cage Walking: - Supposedly exercise for the birds, walking while swinging a bird cage on each arm is also excellent exercise for humans.

Yang Ge (Fan Dancing): Yang ge is a popular Northeastern folk dance, performed on Beijing streets almost every night. The dancers do a simple four step march, while waving a fan. The men of the community usually play simple tunes on traditional musical instruments, leaving the womenfolk to dance. Yang ge is good exercise for the frail-boned, and much simpler to learn than tai chi quan.

Ballroom Dancing: Ballroom dancing is more than sophisticated fun, it is also good exercise. Many Chinese are not particular about where they dance. You'll find them pretty much any place there's room for it - not only parks, but parking lots, and about any open space.
She Bin: From the English word "shaping", as in "shape up!" This exercise involves slow stretching and dancing movements, often done to a tinny disco soundtrack. This is slow aerobics without the leotards.

So, after the workout, go for a good Chinese massage in the park by hooking up with a knotty tree. They're great for itches in difficult to reach places. And the good thing about doing this in the park in the morning - no one thinks its strange; in fact, you may be able to join a group!. So scratch that itch.

In The News ...

China becomes the first nation to halve poor population

Xinhua News Agency

BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China halved its impoverished population over the past three decades, according to Huang Yanxin, deputy director of the regulation department under the Ministry of Agriculture.

The accomplishment makes China the first nation to fulfill its objective under the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) framework.

"According to China's standards, the number of poor people dropped from 250 million in 1978 to 14.8 million in 2007," said Huang.

He made the comments at a press briefing on Premier Wen Jiabao's attendance at the UN MDG summit in New York on Sept. 25.

The comments also conveyed China had fulfilled the goal of halving poor population, compared with the time when MDG project was established. Set in 2000, the MDG include eradicating extreme poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and improving maternal health, all by 2015.

The percentage of people living in absolute poverty in rural areas plunged from 30.7 percent in 1978 to 1.6 percent in 2007, Huang said.

As to those living a subsistence existence, the number fell from 62 million in 2000 to 28 million last year.

China's achievements in relieving poverty had been felt by all, Huang stated. China's poverty reduction promoted development in rural areas, fostered harmony in communities and sped up the process of international poverty relief work.

Huang noted that 2008 marks the 30th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. One of the first steps the country took was to improve rural living standards.

Huang said China had solved the problem of feeding 1.3 billion people during the past 30 years. Compared with 1978, grain output had increased from about 300 billion kg to 500 billion kg in 2007.Amid world shortages of food and soaring prices, China's food supply and prices remained stable.

"It's the important contribution Chinese agriculture made to domestic development and global agriculture," Huang said.

CHINA EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

Please Donate!
Financial contributions to the American Red Cross are tax-deductible.

On May 12, a powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck Sichuan province in southwestern China, killing thousands of people. The American Red Cross is working with its partners in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including the Red Cross Society of China, and other partners to assist those affected by this disaster.

Your gift to the American Red Cross will support emergency relief efforts to help those affected by this earthquake. Assistance provided by the American Red Cross may include sending relief supplies, mobilizing relief workers and providing financial resources.

To donate, please go to: American.redcross.org!