History Maven

Left Shenzen hotel at 6:30 AM Saturday, planning to catch the 8:45 AM ferry to Hong Kong airport. However, they gave us tickets for the 7:45 ferry. We were sitting at breakfast when the ferry ticket clerk came running in to tell us we needed to catch the ferry right now.

This meant going through immigration and then dashing to the ferry. Ironically, when we got to the airport ferry terminal at 8:15 or so, we had to wait til 10 when the checkin for our flight began. In other words, almost 2 hours in a noisy ferry terminal.

But no matter, we caught our flight and are now doing a 5 hour layover in Vancouver. Due to time zone differences , we are about 19 hours into our trip, but it’s only 10:30 AM on Saturday, Pacific Time.

Will be glad to be back, and will probably sleep very well tonight.

On Saturday, I joined a team outing with a group from Huawei, the company that Geoff works for. We went out to some mountains about an hour and a half from Shenzhen. There were some pretty mountains, and the more energetic climbed the mountains.

We grilled food over open charcoal barbecues, which caused a lot of laughter. Chicken on skewers, and corn roasted on the grill. Very much a team effort, basting the chicken with honey, spices and oil.

One of the most interesting things for me was a farming family living at this amusement area. We were encouraged to pick vegetables to grill, but I snapped photos instead. A stark contrast to the very modern Shenzhen lifestyle.

The stove was outside the building. A good idea because of heat and fire hazard.

Almost thought I lost my taxi mojo today. Easiest way to get around is to take a taxi – rates are cheap, and taxi drivers knowledgeable about the places I want to go.

Today I decided to take the metro back to Dongmen Market. I wanted to try the metro, and by looking at maps, I discovered I could pick one up about 5 blocks from where I am staying. So I followed the signs, which took me through a 2 block cell phone parts shopping area, and eventually got to the metro. You pay 5 yuan, it gives you a token that you wave at a scanner as you enter, and drop in a slot on the way out. Very easy (once you’ve done it once). Metro was very new, very clean, very modern – announcements for each stop, electric maps showing you where you are, and tvs to entertain you. Three stops and there I was. There’s a lot of construction to expand the existing two lines.

Once I got done shopping, I was hot and ready to go, and it looked it was going to rain. Now so far I’ve had great luck flagging taxis. At most one or two waves at taxis, and I’ve got a ride. But today, every taxi seemed to have a passenger. I moved to a different street, and still no luck. Went back to the first street, which was a tangled traffic jam. There was also a businessman trying to get a taxi, and he wasn’t having any luck either.

I saw an empty cab in the middle of traffic, and waved at him. He saw me and I pointed at the cab. He nodded, and I waded out into the traffic jam and got in. After I gave him the address I needed, I realized I had gone native and given into the chaos of the traffic. But I got my taxi mojo working again!

I don’t know if I mentioned how crazed traffic is – red lights are optional for pedestrians and motorscooters and cars under many circumstances. I’ve seen buses go straight on red into a pedestrian crossing. But weirdly, I’m getting used to it, and to dodging mopeds coming straight at me on the sidewalk.

Did a day trip to Hong Kong, which while part of China, has a complicated relationship with China. For example, you must pass through immigration and customs in both directions.

Geoff gives an account of all our modes of transportation. One of the most exciting was a tramway that took us to top of Victoria Peak, which gave us a stunning view of Hong Kong. We spent a lot of time there, looking out onto the city. The tram itself was an exciting ride. It goes up and down a very steep mountain, and at a few points is at an angle of 26 degrees. It’s only about a 5 minute ride, but a very exciting one. At one point, we passed an apartment whose window faced the tram – that must make for interesting people watching for the apartment owner.

It is an island with towering skyscrapers densely packed together.

The feel is a lively city, filled with people. It is much more culturally diverse than Shenzen, reflecting its history with the Brits, and as a trading center. The Central area, where we were, is filled with well known shops of high end goods, like Armani, as well as H&M and Marks and Spenser. The place is dense with high rises. But you can go down narrow cross streets, and there are street vendors selling from stalls, too.

It is so busy at ground level that there are elevated walks above the street level. Here the walking is less congested, although there were large groups of woman gathered on them They seemed to be picnicking and socializing. Not sure what this was, but would like to know.

We also took a series of escalators up the side of the hill to get to the tram line. Hong Kong has may accommodations for the sheer volume of people who live there.

On the Double Decker bus, looking at one of the walkways.

Late in the afternoon, we made our way back to the harbor, and a ferry terminal, and ate supper watching the sunset. The Hong Kong skyline is famous for the lighting of the buildings, and we watched the lights come on. After dark, we took a ferry across the harbor to Kowloon, which was amazing. There were massive buildings in all directions, many beautifully lit. Photos really can’t do it justice – it’s definitely a 360 degree experience.

Would love to go back and explore Hong Kong further.

On Friday, I also wandered to the area where a number of government buildings are. Clearly Shenzhen is looking to display their modern edge in the architecture of some of their public buildings.

The municipal building is a huge winged creature. I didn’t get close enough to see how the actual usable space is configured.

I also visited the Shenzhen Library – I’m a big fan of libraries anyhow, and this one is a stunner. The Library and Concert Hall face one another, and are linked by a walkway connecting them at the second floor. They are mirror images of one another, except for the color of the exposed support structures – the library’s is silver, the concert hall’s is gold.

On the exterior are these glass pyramid structures.

When you go into the buildings there is an open area three stories high, supported by an intricate webbing of beams, braces and thin tubes. There are no 90 degree angles, and the sense is airy and impressive at the same time.

Many more image here.

In front of the Police Office of Lianshuan Park was a large sign with what appear to be warnings about possible park hazards. Of course, I do not read Chinese, but this one seems clear.

Be Wary of Women Fishermen

Or maybe it’s something else?

But I wonder what this one is?
Beware of teenagers wielding sickles?

Lianshuanhan Park is a large park in the center of Shenzhen, most famous because it has a statue of Deng Xioping, the Chinese leader, who laid the ground work for the economic policies that made Shenzhen an economic powerhouse.

It’s also a park where people go with their children and see some greenery in this very dense and very concrete city. I stumbled onto a strange event that I don’t quite understand. It involved groups of children about 4 years old who were in uniforms, who, after a number of rah-rah activites by some people on a platform, marched across a field. Or at least, they marched as well as 4 year olds march. Strangely, two of the marching tunes were The Yellow Rose of Texas, and the Lone Ranger theme.

Then I decided to climb to the top of the “hill” to see the statue of Deng Xioping. I followed a crowd of mothers and grandmothers with strollers, thinking to myself that I was relieved that it was going to be an easy climb. What I didn’t know was that they were all going to bail out at a very nice little food stand part way up. Just after that, the climb got a bit steeper. . I valiantly climbed for a bit, took a break, climbed some more, took a break, and finally concluded that this hill was a bit too steep for me. So here’s what I would have seen.

On my way out, I enjoyed the sunlight filtering through lanterns. They were beautiful against the dark green leaves of the trees.

More pictures here.

As I went into the 7-11 near the hotel to pick up some bottled water, a group of neatly dressed late teens were snapping pictures of each other. They all called out “Hallo” “Hallo”. This had happened the first day that I was here, but I wasn’t sure if it was friendly. After a couple of days here, I was pretty confident that for some people, they are interested in Americans and were just being friendly.

So I said Hello back. On my way back out, I passed them again, and they gestured that they wanted me in a picture. There was a lot of giggles and the two bravest stood with me for several pictures. So I pulled out my camera, and handed it to the young woman taking the pictures, and she snapped this for me.

My mother asked that I send her a letter from China. She does not “do” the Internet. So yesterday, I wrote my parents a letter, and selected an envelope supplied by the hotel, so that it would have interesting characters on it, to add to the exotic feel.

Popped the letter into the envelope, and discovered that there is no adhesive on the flap. Hmmmm, not sure what to do, but since I am going to ask the concierge about how to get a stamp, I will ask him about that.

Asked how mail the letter, and am sent from person to person within the hotel. The business center will fedex it, but the goal here is to have an exotic stamp from an exotic locale. Eventually I find someone who tries to help me. He calls the postal service to get the cost of mailing it. It’s 10 yuan (about $1.50). What a deal

While he is getting this information, his assistant gets out a small jar of clear glue, carefully applies a neat line, and seals the envelope for me.

I pay the 10 yuan, and he explains that when the postman comes at 1 in the afternoon, he will purchase the stamp, affix it and mail it.

It’s amazing how little things can be so much fun to explore.

Dongmen Market is a collection of shops and marketplaces crowded together in a roughly 4 by 6 block area. This is one of the places to go to buy all the designer clones “Vear Wang”, “La Polo”, and so on. Parts of it are sheer madness, multi story buildings with tons of little stalls each selling clothes. In some, there were throngs on young women pushing and shoving to get to the goods. Down the narrow aisles, other people were moving in goods.

Interesting moments

• Ate lunch at a sidewalk stall. When I was done, a man came and cleared my food, which was served in a styrofoam container. He took it to a group of his friends, and they started eating it.
• Haggling for a scarf – a very important part of the process. I didn’t haggle at one place, because I was buying 6 things for under 10 dollars, and the vendor clearly thought I was quite silly.
• Watching a man walk by with a pole on his shoulder. On one end, cages of colorful birds. On the other, cages with little rabbits. No one else looked, so this must be a common occurrence.


Man with birds and rabbits

• The chaos of unloading goods for the market. Trucks pull up with plastic wrapped bales of goods, which are tossed into piles on the ground. Then people either just pick them up and carry them away, or use a cart, or balance them on the back of a bicycle. Multiple trucks, hoards of people, and no allocation scheme that I could detect.


Unloading goods

Saw a historical site
The first McDonalds in Mainland China is here. I was looking for a rest room, and discovered this historic land mark. Shenzhen is so new, there are very few other historic sites.