Fall is just around the corner and with fall comes the highly anticipated Golden Week, which begins with China’s National Day on October 1 and continues for the rest of the working week.
While most of us are usually out of town during this time anyway, this year we have some added incentive to get out and seek adventure. The week-long holiday also happens to coincide with the 70th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.
Before you consume yourself with excitement for our host country, this holiday also means that much of the capital will be on lockdown as the city prepares for a series of events to celebrate this momentous occasion. The most notable of these is a massive military parade down Chang’an Jie on Oct 1. This event usually results in roads, subways, and many businesses around the city being closed not only on the day of the parade, but periodically in the weeks leading up to it for rehearsals.
So, unless you don’t mind sitting indoors for a majority of the week, then it’s probably best to start planning your escape now. This can be somewhere else in Asia (Bali sounds delightful!), any other city in China, or even back home to visit the fam. But don’t stay here expecting to carry on with your regular day-to-day routine or knock out some items on your Beijing bucket list.
For the last major military parade marking the 70th Anniversary of the War of Aggression Victory Day, there were road restrictions, numerous restrictions on various modes of transport and license plates, and forced closures of bars and restaurants around the city. More info can be found out about that here.
While we can’t confirm if the situation will be the same as we experienced back in Aug-Sep, 2015, steps are already being made to get the capital parade-ready. These efforts will only be made more visible in the weeks to come. So, brace yourselves for impact, and start making travel plans now.
Photo: Wikimedia
