Happy Birthday China! (And Benjamin!)

(Apologies, of course, for the brief leave of absence.  My 1337 hacking was temporarily incapacitated, and needed some love.  My thrilling imagination likes to daydream that the government is trying to shut me down, but I'm pretty sure it's really just that Vista sucks.  Anyway, I'm back, so look forward to more posts soon!)

We have a very special birthday today!  Turning 60 years young today, we have the People's Republic of China.  Hooray!

Today marks the 60th Anniversary of China's National Day, the anniversary of the day Chairman Mao declared a unified, communist China.  It is a very exciting time to be here, and even in the "small" city that I live in, patriotic excitement has reached a feverish intensity.

The most notable thing that you see everywhere is the color red.  While the color itself usually carries an important role in Chinese culture, bringing luck and happiness, it takes on a special meaning at this time of year, symbolizing China itself.  And so everywhere you look, there are red lanterns, red pamphlets and fliers, red storefronts, and Chinese flags as far as the eye can see.  There are various cultural presentations and ceremonies, a huge "parade" and display of military might in Beijing (which I will not be allowed to attend), and of course, fireworks at all hours of the day/night.  Which would be cool, except that they're almost always the type that makes lots of noise and don't look all that cool.  And unfortunately, 6am seems to be firework primetime around here.  Don't these people ever sleep?!

Of course, not being ones to miss out on economic opportunity, the Chinese have openly embraced the perfusion of patriotism, with very reasonable prices.  This guy normally just sells these little lego-like toys, but was suddenly struck by the glory of China, and decided to deck out his cart with the ubiquitous Chinese flag, which incidentally, he wouldn't mind selling to you since he has a few extra.  Convenient!