Yesterday was a national holiday in China. The Chinese celebrated the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China. Although, celebrate? I didn't notice a thing! Yanghsuo has been decorated with colorful flags and yellow-and-red banners for a week and the trees in the center have colorful, tacky Christmas lights in them, but apart from that, there was nothing special. The shops were open as usual. The Chinese students and foreign teachers had to go to school as usual. The festivities seemed to be taken place in Beijing only. Until 10.30 pm. At that time, a huge firework show started that lasted for approximately 40 minutes. It was very impressive and everybody in Yangshuo hurried to the river banks to watch it. Happy National Day!

Yesterday afternoon, I walked to the Yulong River. I knew it would be far, but I had plenty of time, so I just started walking. It took me more than an hour to get to the river, but it was worth it. I sat at the river bank, watched the bamboo rafts float by and read a book. It was 5 o'clock by the time I was ready to go back, so I texted Joe that I wouldn't be on time for dinner at New Start. I was back in Yangshuo around 6.30 pm, so I was in time for English Corner. The topic of English Corner was National Day and Moon Festival. The students knew hardly anything about it! Tonight we're going to celebrate Moon Festival with the school. We're going to Secret Beach to dance and sing around a campfire. Sounds like fun, but I still don't know what we're going to celebrate! Kathy (from Belgium), Jamie (from England), Nancy (my room mate and Chinese teacher) and I will sing a Chinese song tonight. Yep,you got that right, I'll be singing a Chinese song - and I can't even sing! My first Chinese lesson last Friday was singing a song in Chinese. Most foreigners start with the different Chinese sounds and then they study pingling, the phonetic script - but not me. We practiced singing the song a couple of times this week and I know it'll sound awful tonight, but it doesn't matter. Isn't this what they call 'cultural integration'?

This is the song:

Yue liang dai biao wo de xin
Ni wen wo ai ni you duo shen
Wo ai ni you ji fen
Wo de qing ye zhen
Wo de ai ye zhen
Yue liang dai biao wo de xin
Ni wen wo ai ni you dou shen
Wo ai ni you ji fen
Wo de qing bu yi
Wo de ai bu bian
Yue liang dai biao wo de xin
Qing qing de yi ge wen
Yi jing da dong wo de xin
Shen shen de yi duan qing
Jiao wo si nian dao ru jin
Ni wen wo ai ni you dou shen
Wo ai ni you ji fen
Ni qu xiang yi xiang
Ni qu kan yi kan
Yue liang dai biao wo de xin

Explanation:
Yue liang = moon
ai = love (same as in Japanese)
Yue liang dai biao wo de xin = How the moon represents my heart

It's a very romantic song!

By the way: the q is pronounced as sh.

Have a nice day and a great weekend!