Take It From Us: Get the Hell Out of BJ for the October Holiday
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Golden
Week may still be a couple of months away, but the sooner you can make
arrangements to be anywhere other than Beijing, the better. This year's
National Day celebrations, on and around Oct 1, are going to be even
bigger than ever given that it's the 70th anniversary of the PRC. Our
advice? Plan your trip now, because you won't want to be stuck here.
If
it's anything like (and it will be a lot like, if not even worse)
2015's 70th Anniversary of the Chinese People's War of Resistance
Against Japanese Aggression (read about it via QR code below), the
entire city will go on lockdown to make way for the military parade
celebrations that will make Beijing a lot less fun than it usually is.
(For example, we've already had to postpone our annual Pizza Festival as a result.)
Fear
not though, as the rest of the world will keep on turning even while
Beijing installs snipers on rooftops and confines you to your apartment
(this did actually happen four years ago), which is why you should
consider...
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For
those taking the opportunity for a quick run-back to see the folks, now
is definitely the time to book those tickets. Round trip flights to
Vancouver, Los Angeles, and Moscow are all available right now for under
USD 400, and we wouldn't expect them to go much lower than that. Also,
remember to browse our tips on how to have a happy trip back home.
Be
forewarned that traveling anywhere in China during the holiday carries a
risk of drowning in a wave of crowds, but it beats sitting at home.
Autumn is a great time to leave the confines of your air-conditioned
room as the temperatures become tolerable, giving you the opportunity to
travel to Sichuan by rail (read our article about this via QR code
above), head to the historic city of Pingyao, see what all the fuss is about in Shanghai, or catch the new high-speed rail to the coastal city of Qingdao, fly further south to Xiamen, or simply head to the Beijing suburbs. Read all of our travel tips right here:
Countries that are quite rainy in the summer months such as Vietnam, Burma (read our travel article to Yangon via QR code above), and Laos (read our travel article to Luang Prabang via QR code below)
should catch a break from the showers in October, making it a perfect
time to go and have fun in the sun. It's also a month for great weather
in Bhutan and Nepal. Or if you fancy an excellent view of autumn leaves,
check out the national parks of Japan (Kyoto is pictured above) or the countryside of South Korea.
Finally, if you don't have any specific travel requirements except "get me the hell out of here" check out aggregate sites like Skyscanner (skyscanner.com) and Kayak (kayak.com). Each has a function where you simply input where you are flying from, and when, and it will show you a range of great deals for flights all over the world on those dates. Your new favorite travel destination might be somewhere you'd never even heard of yet.
READ: Save Hundreds of Renminbi on Plane Tickets With This One Simple Travel Hack
Images: Delta Airlines, HuffPost, Japan Rail Pass, Ross Parmly (via unsplash.com)
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