And, to add insult to injury, the official holiday is not announced until one week before it is to begin!!

We all knew that we would have to "pay" for having Friday off with a Sunday, but I had my fingers crossed that we would work on Sunday, April 25, giving us a 4-day weekend the following weekend. But nooooo...

The streets of Chengdu were devoid of traffic this weekend. Where was everybody?

Why, shopping at the May Day sales, of course!!

Sent by Aly | 10:36 AM ET | 05-04-2008

Chengdu ranked third in terms of number of privately owned cars in China. There were 1000+ cars registered each day during my visit there last week, and this number is said to be consistently increasing in the last two years.

So, you can image the situation in Beijing, where people owns the largest number of private vehicles in China, not to mention govermental vehicles.

Sent by Liang | 11:23 AM ET | 05-04-2008

Comparing Beijing traffic to that in western countries is like comparing apples and oranges. The drivers in China are among the least courteous and worst in the world. Traffic there is much worse than in any of the cities mentioned.

I doubt that Mr. Siegel did any driving himself, as I have for many years.

Sent by herongh | 11:54 AM ET | 05-04-2008

Herongh is right. I am one of those lucky people with extra passport pages from all the traveling. Chinese drivers are the least courteous and worst in the world. They are also the most dangerous.

Re: "Three-Day Holidays". If you usually have weekends off and are given a "Three-Day Holiday" of Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which requires a makeup day on Sunday, you really only have a one-day holiday. In three years in China I have never met anyone who complains about the last minute and capricious holiday practices of the government and employers. So much for life in the workers' paradise.

Sent by Tom Hill, Chengdu | 11:46 PM ET | 05-06-2008