Memoirs of Beijing

We’re almost at the end of 2009 and I hope next year proves to be a better year for everyone.  I hope the world economy makes a rebound and everyone’s life will be at least a bit easier.

Our HR already sent out a memo regarding the 2010 Chinese Holidays.  That means I can plan my vacation and make the most out of the 11 days vacation leave that I’m entitled to on top of the Chinese Holidays.  As usual, expect working on the weekend or seven days straight as China just love to messed up regular working people’s schedule.

• New Year -  Jan 1 (Fri) to Jan 3 (Sun)
• Chinese New Year – Feb 13 (Sat) to Feb 19 (Fri), must work on Feb 19 (Sat) and Feb 20 (Sun) … *aaahhh!*
• Tomb Sweeping Day – Apr 3 (Sat) to Apr 5 (Mon)
• Labor Day – May 1 (Sat) to May 3 (Mon)
• Dragon Boat Festival – Jun 14 (Mon) to Jun 16 (Wed), must work on Jun 12 (Sat) and Jun 13 (Sun)
• Mid-Autumn Festival – Sep 22 (Wed) to Sep 24 (Fri), must work on Sep 19 (Sun) and Sep 25 (Sat)
• National Day – Oct 1 (Fri) to Oct 7 (Thu), must work on Sep 26 (Sun) and Oct 9 (Sat)

There you have it!  I’m dreading the seven day work-week.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be grumpy on the seventh day!  Why can’t they just stick to a long weekend like in the Philippines.

In my previous blog, I already mentioned the ins and outs of travelling by train in China. Getting the train schedule on the other hand is a bit of a pain specially if you don’t read/write Chinese.

In this blog, I will teach you how to use huochepiao.com’s train schedule. It’s still in Chinese but I will put some English translation on the essentials here.

Step 1. Using Microsoft Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, type http://www.huochepiao.com on the url field.

Read the rest of this entry »