National Day

October 1st is China's National Day, celebrating the founding of the People's Republic of China on this day in 1949. It also marks the start of the Golden Week, in which almost all 1.36 billion people in China enjoy a week long holiday, resulting in travel chaos and elevated prices across the nation.
Being a seaside village, Zeng Cuo An also enjoyed a surge of travelers from across China, mostly the neighbouring provinces, with the majority of visitors coming from Guangzhou (the 3rd largest city in China), and also quite a few from Shanghai. The latter recognizable by their over-sized sunglasses, floppy hats, and iPhones. The young and wealthy Shanghainese prefer to fly in, instead of coming by train or bus, like most travelers from Guangzhou and elsewhere. This young tourist crowd (mostly couples in their early twenties) represents the new generation of wealthy Chinese who can enjoy the pleasures of traveling. Many of the people I met here have also traveled abroad, still a privilege for a very small (but steadily growing) percentage of the Chinese population.
Festivities in Xiamen on National Day are minimal. I did not even notice a grand display of fireworks, which I certainly expected. But maybe I just was not at the right place at the right time.
I did however had the pleasure of meeting Ling Ling (29), visiting from Zhuhai, south of Guangzhou, and whom I spent most of the past 3 days with. Living in a place like Zeng Cuo An has the benefit of having a lot of opportunity to meet people from many different areas of China, but the downside is that they will always disappear after a few days. What's left are good memories and online chats on QQ.