Happy Children's Day!

It's Children's Day in China.
I started my day off reading this rather depressing article about child rearing and education in China.http://the-diplomat.com/china-power/2010/05/20/the-trouble-with-teens/
However, when I rode my bike to language school, I found thousands of children with the parents and/or grandparents on the streets heading for the parks.  It was amazing!  We just don't see children as often as we would like to.  The winter here is long, dark and cold and people are indoors.  Children are in school for long hours and then go home to do homework.  Because of the one-child policy and working parents, we most often see grandparents taking care of their children.
But today was a day of fun and celebration.  I stopped by a park on my way home to take some pictures. I don't usually take or post many pictures of children because I don't want to intrude on people's privacy.  We've had people take pictures of our daughter without permission and it's an uncomfortable position to be in.

As you enter the park, there were many toys to be bought.

 There were many large groups of children, all lined up.

These little boys had on identical outfits and apparently the same sized bladder.

This little girl was studying.  I took her picture and later her parents came up and asked if she could practice her English for a while.  We had a long conversation and then I exchanged phone numbers with her parents.

Some people ignored the children and continued with their sword dancing.

Or continued playing games.

Many girls wore pretty dresses.

While the boys played with water guns!

Grandmother's carried tired children.

This picture has nothing to do with Children's Day-just a picture of our cat.  It's unusual in China to have a cat that lives indoors, let alone a cat that is neutered and vaccinated.

Happy Children's Day!