It’s a curfew, but we are happily celebrating and very jolly…

I have always said that I can write a book just to talk about my encounters with taxi drivers in Beijing. Here come a good one, that happened just two days before the Oct 1st National Day.

I got on this taxi after work. The driver is a friendly man in his early 40’s. The road was more congested than usually, primarily because it was getting very close to both the National Day and Mid-Autumn festival. There would usually be a lot of people on the road delivering gifts like mooncakes and fruit baskets.

I was commenting on the heavier than usual traffic…

Driver: It will be better tomorrow. Lots of companies are closing their offices in the afternoon.

Me: Really? Is that because traffic restriction in some areas will begin in the afternoon?

D: Yes. The curfew will begin in the afternoon (下午就开始戒严了).

M: This is amazing! The National Day is supposedly something to celebrate. Why would the city become almost like a warzone?

D: No. It is not a war. It is a celebration. People are very jolly about it (很热闹).

M: Is curfew not supposed to only take place when a country is at war or about to get into a war? Why would we need to have a curfew if we are celebrating?

D: No. It’s curfew. But it is not a war. We are very excited about that.

M: In most other countries, curfew will only happen during war time or under extreme circumstances.

D: No. It is not a war. If it is war time, we will have night curfew (宵禁). Curfew is different.

M: Is night curfew (宵禁) not just curfew (戒严) that takes place at night? And how jolly could it be if people are not allowed to go anywhere? Especially if they are not allowed to go to where the celebration activities are taking place?

D: That’s true. It will be difficult to move around. We probably won’t have too much business either. But it is still very jolly.

M: …