"Golden Week", or what's known as five straight days of national holidays, is the biggest time of the year in Japan for traveling. It's at the beginning of May and consists of the Emperor's Birthday, Constitution Memorial Day, Greenery Day and Children's day. Flights are expensive, hotels are booked, and tourist destinations all over Japan are crowded with eager, camera-toting Japanese tourists. Some even venture overseas to the US, Hawaii, Australia and SE Asia in their easily recognizable tour groups. It's not only a good time for the Japanese to travel but also for the JET Programme English teachers with disposable income!

This year I'll be joining the flock and traveling for Golden Week. I was originally going to visit Kyoto and Osaka but then I realized my next two-week vacation won't come again until next Christmas. Until then, Golden Week was one of my my last big chances to see Asia while I'm in Japan so I'm deciding to take advantage of it. My spring break and summer holidays will consist of sitting at my Board of Education to prepare lessons and any vacation days I want to take will have to be at the expense of my previous nenkyuu (3 weeks paid holiday per year). I took six nenkyuu days for Golden Week for a total of 16 days off and decided on heading, solo, to China.

I learned that Golden Week actually originated in China before Japan adopted it during the same time. It was a seven-day national holiday in China and the entire country basically shut down for it. A few years ago the government realized that this holiday was causing a huge strain on the economy (as the country stopped while the rest of the world moved on), trains, airlines, and tourist spots flooded with people moving in different directions. At the beginning of 2008, the Chinese government abolished Golden Week and spread the holidays to different times throughout the year. It ended up being better for the country and also good for me because it means I won't be swamped with people while I'm there!

I bought my flight from Sapporo to Hong Kong (real cheaply!) a few weeks ago and am planning my itinerary right now. I haven't ironed out the details yet but I know I'm spending a few days in Hong Kong and Guangzhou before spending 5-6 days in Beijing to explore the city and hike the Great Wall of China. On the way back I'll stop in Xian (and maybe hike up Mt. Huashan) before flying out of Hong Kong. I want to go with the flow so nothing is set in stone yet. I've been preparing for my trip by looking up where I'm planning to go, getting my Visa, figuring out what to pack and picking up some gear like my new toy - a Nikon D40 DSLR camera. Now I look like a proper tourist!

I decided on this trip because everything for me up until now has been pretty structured (12 years of school, University, and moving to Japan on a teaching contract) and I think it'll be good for me to break out of that mold and see how flexible I can be in a completely new enviroment. I've never traveled solo before so I'm super excited about it. The freedom to go wherever I want, to see whatever I want, to sleep whenever I want and to decide on my own is intoxicating! Only seven weeks and counting..