Why you shouldn’t go out on a Major Chinese Holiday

If every permanent resident of Kunshan will be out on the streets at the same time, there will be at least 700 persons standing per square-kilometer of land. This rough estimation excludes the foreigners and temporary residents in the numerator and the buildings and houses in the denominator. So everyone going out on a major holiday spells havoc and mayhem in every street corner.

“Kasya pa! Kasya pa!” sigaw ng dispatsadora.

There was a 7-day national holiday in China last week and this was what exactly happened when we went out for a trip on the first day. And if the crowded streets and jam-packed buses were not enough burden, the stinking fumes of sweat from their month-old clothings is another story.

People crowding the gate entrance of Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou.

The train travel from our trip from Hangzhou on the 7th day could be thrice horrendous as the bus ride from within Kunshan. The train station was so crowded with everyone wanting to go back home after a visit from their hometown or leisure trips. If we didn’t book our tickets earlier, I would have to endure standing 5 hours inside the train just like everyone else did.

When we got inside the train and found the seats designated on our tickets, we had to shoo two lucky persons occupying our seats who were probably assuming we got lost on our way and failed to catch with the train schedule.

Inside the train, there was a small dining table in front of our seats (about 2 feet long and a feet wide) scattered with left-over foods and chestnut shells so I had to clean it out as soon as we get seated. However, there was this woman sharing that same table with us eating boiled eggs, sunflower seeds and other edibles whatevers from inside her bag. My wife’s temper is building up each time this woman would crack a sunflower seed and spit its empty shells in the front table. As if seeing me cleaning the table before her wouldn’t be enough to solicit some courtesy. We just assumed that the woman is so rich for her to feel like owning the whole train but China must be a haven of rich people because the other man who’s feasting on two plump tomatoes beside her is doing the same.

Kung hindi lang talaga maganda ang China hindi ko gugustuhing lumabas ng bahay lalo pa nga’t alam kong ganito kabargas ang mga tao dito.

For my next posts, I’ll be showing off photos from our recent trip in Hangzhou. Wait a minute, peanut butter!