A Surprise Holiday to Xinjiang Province
China’s National Day is coming up, which means another Golden Week. Although our school was initially set to work during the nation-wide week-long holiday, it looks like we’ve got a surprise! holiday. We’re thinking about going to the far west province of Xinjiang. Yes, the one that had all those riots and ethnic tension back in July.
I’m not entirely sure if Internet connections are available in the region. Internet, international phone calls and SMS texting were all cut off in July after the riots. Since I can’t rely on having Internet, I’m cramming all kinds of Google searching and trip planning in today. My posts on our vacation in Spain will have to come after the holiday, along with posts on Xinjiang.
Of course, all of our Han Chinese friends think we are insane, as Xinjiang is viewed to be one of the most dangerous places in China. It is not dangerous at the moment and especially not for foreigners. Keep in mind that even when there is not ethnic strife, Xinjiang is thought of as a “wild west” kind of place, full of thieves and “bad people,” but we like to believe that downtown San Antonio is a heck of a lot more risky. We should return to Linyi by October 9th 5th or 6th. I’ll update with a Quick Bit before we leave.
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Sounds like fun! When my wife and I were traveling in southern China last summer I was amazed by how hard it was to get off the beaten path without speaking Chinese very well. Good luck getting there and back!