It was October 1, 2003 and I had a week off of school because of the October Holiday.

The October holiday is the holiday celebrated in honor of the 1st of October.

It is held every year on October 1st.

And I had to ask about TWENTY PEOPLE before I got an answer any clearer than that.

October 1, 1949 is China's National Day.

Sort of like July 4, 1776 for the United States.

It is such an important integral obvious holiday to most Chinese people that despite repeat questions on my part, I couldn't get anyone to explain to me what the hell it was or why we weren't working.

October 1, 2, and 3 no work and no school. Whichever weekend is closest to the holiday gets moved so that there are five contiguous days of holiday. Then comes the bad news. You have to work Saturday and Sunday.

I had a new bike, I had a long holiday, I had successfully gone 52(!) kilometers in one day and done almost 20 the next day, so I had a Grand Plan.

(I'm rather suspicious of Grand Plans and yet I continue to make them.)

Get on my bike and go to Beijing. Make it to Beijing before Friday night services at Kehillat Beijing. Spend the weekend in Beijing and take the train home.