Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
them up at most expat hangouts such as
the Old French Concession, Xintiandi or
Barbarossa in Renmin Park. For a list of
online resources, with comprehensive
listings and maps, see p.43.
entertaining of which feature dancers in
weird fetishistic costumes. Gung-ho Chinese
war films, in which the Japanese are shown
getting mightily beaten, at least have the
advantage that you don't need to speak the
language to understand what's going on.
The present rage is for Pop Idol-type shows
where the audience chooses the winner by
phone-in - the only time that Chinese
citizens get to vote. These shows are fiercely
popular with teenage girls, who form clans
based around their favourite. The winner
tends to be a feisty and androgynous-
looking girl.
CCTV9 is an English-language channel,
with a news programme at 10pm nightly.
The local broadcaster SBN has a news
update at 10pm daily, in English. CCTV5 is a
sports channel and often shows European
football games. Satellite TV in English is
available in the more expensive hotels. Most
mid- and top-range hotels will have ESPN,
BBC and CNN.
Radio
On the radio you're likely to hear the latest
ballads by pop-robots from the Hong Kong
and Taiwan idol factories, or versions of
Western pop songs sung in Chinese. The
BBC World Service can be picked up at
12010, 15278, 17760 and 21660kHz. VoA
can be tuned into on 5880, 6125, 9760,
15250, 15425, 17820 and 21840kHz.
Television
There is the occasional item of interest on
Chinese television, though you'd have to
be very bored to resort to it for entertain-
ment. Domestic travel and wildlife
programmes are frequently shown, as are
song-and-dance extravaganzas, the most
Festivals and public holidays
The rhythm of festivals and religious observances that used to mark the Chinese
calendar was interrupted by the Cultural Revolution, and only now, nearly forty
years on, are old traditions beginning to re-emerge. The majority of festivals
celebrate the turning of the seasons or propitious dates, such as the ninth day of
the ninth lunar month, and are times for gift-giving, family reunions and feasting.
Traditional festivals take place according to
dates in the Chinese lunar calendar, in which
the month starts when the moon is a new
crescent, and the middle of the month is
marked by the full moon; by the Gregorian
calendar, these festivals fall on a different
date every year.
Public holidays have little effect on
business, with only government departments
and certain banks closing. However, on New
Year's Day, during the first three days of the
Chinese New Year, and on National Day,
most businesses, shops and sights will be
shut, though some restaurants stay open.
January/February
New Year's Day
(Jan 1).
Spring Festival
(Starts between late Jan and
mid-Feb) Chinese New Year celebrations extend
over the first two weeks of the new lunar year (see
box opposite).
March
Guanyin's Birthday
Guanyin, the goddess of
mercy and probably China's most popular Buddhist
deity, is celebrated on the nineteenth day of the
second lunar month; festivities are held at the Yufo
and Baiyunguan temples.
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