Today was tomb-sweeping day in China - a newly recognized national holiday which afforded us a day off from work at Caterpillar, China. Known in Chinese as "Qing Ming Jie", it falls two weeks after the winter solstice and is a day to visit and honor dead ancestors.
We celebrated by taking a bike ride to a nearby park that I will call Pennisula Park. The park is about a mile away in a residential area that I am told has been built to house government employees and party cadres. At present, it seems pretty void of residents, but has some beautifully landscaped paths and park space along the lake and adjacent canals.
The kids enjoyed the unique playground equipment and we parents enjoyed getting them out of the house where the day off was putting them on each others nerves.
We had a nice conversation in broken Mandarin with three security guards who were looking after the playground. We mused about why an empty playground needs three security guards on duty, but this whole park seems to always have more security guards than visitors.
The final picture is of an interesting and huge sculpture that is being erected a block from the entrance to our subdivision. Though it reminds me of a treble clef, I cannot actually say what it will signify or symbolize. Probably something to do with progress and harmony!
We celebrated by taking a bike ride to a nearby park that I will call Pennisula Park. The park is about a mile away in a residential area that I am told has been built to house government employees and party cadres. At present, it seems pretty void of residents, but has some beautifully landscaped paths and park space along the lake and adjacent canals.
The kids enjoyed the unique playground equipment and we parents enjoyed getting them out of the house where the day off was putting them on each others nerves.
We had a nice conversation in broken Mandarin with three security guards who were looking after the playground. We mused about why an empty playground needs three security guards on duty, but this whole park seems to always have more security guards than visitors.
The final picture is of an interesting and huge sculpture that is being erected a block from the entrance to our subdivision. Though it reminds me of a treble clef, I cannot actually say what it will signify or symbolize. Probably something to do with progress and harmony!
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