Hello readers!

Apologies for the brief posting gap- I’ve been running around the Pearl River Delta and closing out my apartment up north (more to follow on that). As a result of the national holiday, there were large celebrations throughout the 大陆 (mainland) including a large-scale 游行 (parade) in Beijing, a 假期 (vacation period) of 8 days, and when everybody 放假 (went on vacation) they went to 团圆 (reunite) with family to celebrate 中秋 (Mid-Autumn Festival) and eat 月饼 (moon cakes).  As for me,  I decided to go see how the National Day would be observed in China’s 特别行政区 (special administrative regions).  The first part of the day, I was in Hong Kong, where I saw numerous 国旗 (national flags) and a banner saying 祝贺中华人民共和国 (congratulations/well wishing to the People’s Republic of China).  When I got to Macau, I saw the world’s tallest 蹦极 (bungee) platform, and came to the conclusion that you wouldn’t be aware of the National Holiday in Macau unless somebody told you beforehand.  However, there were a couple of those banners at the MGM Grand.

Words

大陆 da4lu4 - Mainland
游行 you2xing2 - parade
假期 jia4qi1 - vacation period
放假 fang4jia4- go on vacation
团圆 tuan2yuan2 - reunite (used with families)
中秋 zhong1qiu1 - mid-autumn festival (full name is 中秋节 zhong1qiu1jie2 with jie2 meaning holiday)
月饼 yue4bing3 - mooncakes
特别行政区 te4bie2xing2zheng4qu1 - Special Administrative Region(s)
国旗 guo2qi2 - national flag
蹦极 beng4ji2 - Bungee jumping
祝贺 zhu4he4 - wish
中华人民共和国 - zhong1hua2ren2min2gong4he2guo2 - People’s Republic of China