May 1st is recognized in many countries around the world as International Workers' Day. In China, May Day kicks off one of three annual "Golden Weeks," 7-day holidays established by the government essentially to increase spending. (The other two Golden Weeks are National Day on October 1 and Spring Festival, otherwise known as Chinese New Year.) Almost the entire country has the week off and they either travel or shop. Expats who have been here for a few years, like me, don't travel or shop because those two activities are not as fun when done with 1.3 billion people. (Interestingly, International Workers' Day is not celebrated in the US, even though it originated in Chicago in 1886.) To celebrate International Workers' Day in completely untraditional fashion, my friends and I went for dinner followed by
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