National People's Congress to Meet in Beijing March 5, 2015

China's National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislative body, will meet in Beijing on March 5, 2015, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

This annual legislative session normally lasts ten days to two weeks. This is important for the average Beijinger because both during the run-up and what is called the "Two Meetings" (the NPC and the China People's Political Consultative Conference, or CPPCC) can mean snarled traffic and a general tampdown on nightlife and large-scale entertainment events.

It's also news because the Two Meetings' dates are normally announced sometime in February. Along the lines of the recently-announced 2015 public holiday schedule, which this year seems to account of public dislike of make-up Sundays for business days missed, this early announcement appears to be an effort to give Beijingers more time to plan for large-scale events such as this that can disrupt daily life, including commutes.

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