Road trip! 2: MIDI music festival

Wu Yi, or May 1, is a big deal here - a long weekend that gives everyone a chance to realize that it's pretty much summer, yay! I ended up having the entire three-day stretch off work (rare - I usually tutor straight through weekends), so I joined Poppy and Julia on an expertly organized two-night trip to the MIDI music festival. MIDI is a three-day event that's historically been held in Beijing but was moved this year to the conveniently close city of Zhenjiang, only three hours away. Well, six, if you're caught in traffic on the way there like we were. Not to worry, though; entertainment was provided by way of music and light refreshments like beer and candy, served by our gracious - if hairy-legged - in-bus hostess Anita.

We were all a little concerned about what kinds of accommodation we'd be facing for the trip fee of Y50/night (Y33 for J, P, and I, who were all bunking together), but when we arrived in Zhenjiang, we pulled up to none other than the Super 8 Motel. Man, Super 8 always impresses. Our giant-windowed room was decorated in a winsome turqoise palette, and the cleaning ladies were super-generous with the toilet paper and extra blankets. Not bad for $6, no?

And the festival? Awesome. It was so low-pressure: with only two stages - one for the main acts and one for dance music from an impressive line-up of DJs - I never had that panicky Folk Fest feeling when you're sure the best show is not the one in front of you, but the one on Stage Seven, a ten-minute jog away. The music wasn't always to our taste, but bands like Cold Fairyland (Chinese folky trancy alternativy awesomeness, http://www.myspace.com/coldfairyland) and socalled, Hollerado, and Jets Overhead (all Canadian) made up for the weird prevalence of death metal.


Day 1: Getting there

1. On the road through the Chinese countryside: farmers tending fields amidst random acts of highrises.
2. The lovely Anita makes her first round. The apron was reserved specifically for snacktime.
3. Dao le (we're here!): The Super 8 welcomes us.
4. The rustic but effective hand-wash station on the festival grounds.
5. The "rock out" finger-horn thing is totally popular here. Wicked!
6. Buying corn-on-the-cob from one of the many food vendors. Because most Chinese people don't drink much, there was only one tent for beer - and about thirty for food. The result was a snacking bonanza tempered by meditative line-up breaks for drinks. It was very balancing.