Big day ahead and one that I couldn't wait for.
I was up at 5.30am, and we were picked up by our Guide at the Hotel by 7am!
Very early start! We were on the bus, on our way to Hung Hom Railway Station,
to catch the train to Shenzehn. Now this train is like no other.
The station and the trains are so long...
We even went First Class...
On the 45min train ride up to Shenzehn, our Guide Elton told us lots about Shenzehn
and the China mainland. Very different worlds apart, between Hong Kong and China...
even though the are all technically China!
Shenzehn is a very new city...only 32 years old! Wow!
So much infrastructure for such a young city!!
I understand why people from Hong Kong travel to Shenzehn.
No.1 is fabulous shopping, due to the fact that so much is manufactured there.
When you read "Made in China" on nearly any product we buy, it's probably been made
in Shenzehn. That and it's cheap!
Shenzehn is the knock-off capital of the world!
98% of the world's Apple products(Ipad's Iphone's, etc) are made in Shenzehn.
I had my Ipad and Iphone with me that day...they had come back home for a visit! Lol.
The Apple factory is about 20km from the City and employs...wait for it...approximately
340,000 workers. Made up of 3 shifts over a 24hr period! Can you believe that?
Nearly blew my mind!! Imagine what they must produce in a year??
No.2 reason for Hong Kong people coming to Shenzehn is massages!
What they would get in Hong Kong is an hr massage, and for the same price
in Shenzehn they'd get a 4hr massage. Very popular, I'm told!
So we arrived at Shenzehn. Hopped off the train and headed to immigration.
You have to leave Hong Kong first before you can enter China, so technically 2 immigrations
and about 100m of no man's land in between. You walk across a walkway on top of a river, obviously...and there is razor wire everywhere. There's no getting in or out except via the
immigration points. There's no photos allowed either. Everyone is so serious and nobody smiles. Welcome to Communist China! Lol.
Once through all the official stuff, we headed for our bus. The bus took us to the main
entrance of Window of the World. It's a big theme park with replicas of many of the world's
famous buildings. Our Guide told us there a miniature sized Sydney Opera House in there.
Great spot for a photo opportunity!
Here's out tour group... All were Aussies, which was nice and from far and wide
across our country!
Here's our group of 6.
Dragons, to the Chinese are very lucky and very prosperous. Thought I'd better
have my pic taken with a giant one! Might give me some luck.
I was suprised how many Christmas trees and Christmas decorations we saw.
Heaps of them. Very spectacular too. Here's one at Window of the World.
For a nation that mainly practices Buddism and Taoism, I found the Christianity
symbols a bit out of place? Our Guide Elton, said due to so many Westerners
celebrating it and it's so big on the world calendar, that they celebrate Christmas too.
Here's some shots from the bus around Shenzehn.
So many BIG buildings all in a row...
Apartment living...
It's so BIG!
So we visited a silk factory and were shown how you pull silk from a coocoon
and eventually onto a quilt. Crazy! I'm now a little more eductaed on the silk worm!
They had beautiful doonas, pyjamas, clothing and scarves. Amazing what they can
do with a little silk cocoon and a worm!
Back on the bus and off again.
There are 4 of the Terracotta Warriors located in Shenzehn. Now that was amazing.
So much detail carved into clay! They really are amazing and definately worth a look.
There was no photos allowed seeing they are so old..over 2000 years old.
They were discovered in 1974, by a farmer ploughing his fields. They ended up
discovering over 4000 pieces that were buried. Created by first Emperor of Qin,
it was a form of funerary. Quite a remarkable story.
d love to see the huge army of them one day.
Then it was time for lunch. We went to a restaurant and had a traditional Chinese lunch.
Not all that different to our Chinese here. It was delicious!
After lunch it was time to hit the Lo Wu Shopping Centre!
Time to go in with a plan and haggle our little hearts out! That and do some good
Maths and get a bargain! How fast can you convert HK$ to Aussie$?
Thank god I had my little Converter card and an app on my Iphone to work it out!
Lol. Maths in NOT my fortae!
Here's us outside the Lo Wu Shopping Centre...
We did pretty well. I got myself a lovely latest model Chanel watch and Jase the
latest Tag Heuer. He was pretty happy. Seeing I had a new Chanel watch, I had to
get some sunglasses to match! Seriously, it was hard work.
They start with a silly price, way too expensive, you start with a rock bottom price
and you haggle like crazy and meet somewhere in the middle! That about sums it up!
In China, they can't sell knock-offs in shops...it's illegal!
They have a few items in the shop and a runner outside. They go to the Warehouse
and get what you want and are back within a few mins. But the funny thing, everyone
does it. It makes them a LOT of money. You see a lot of people stand out the front of
shops with black garbage bags and suitcases with "stock". We did see a comotion while
we were in the sunglasses shop. They all went scurrying with their bags and suitcases.
Apparently a Govt Official came in. If the shop owners are caught in the act they are shut
down for 3 mths, which means no revenue. Crazy huh??
I was happy with what I paid for my items. I did ask our Guide if I got ripped off
and he said No, I'd done well. Was pretty pleased with myself.
Much cheaper than at Chanel or Tag Heuer, that's for sure! Bonus...both watches are
still going strong! Lol.
Here's Kel and I with our loot after we came out of the gauntlet!
Here's the Railway Station right next to Lo Wu, where we caught the train back
to Hong Kong. Huge, isn't it?
On the train ride back to Hong Kong...
After our tour we headed back to the Hotel to drop off our shopping and rest up
for an hr or so before we headed off to find the Jade Market! It was a short walk
from our Hotel. It ended up being finished for the day so we headed back to Temple St
for a looksee! It was a nice walk down there, with lots to look at along the way.
Nathan Rd is such a busy Rd!
Here's Kel and Dino in Nathan Rd...
All in all, another great day!
Busy and tiring but we saw and experienced so much.
I liked China. Very modern place with hints of old world.
I'd go back there to see some more, even if Immigration was a little daunting?
I'd love to see the 4000 Terracotta Warriors in their original setting and maybe
stand on the Great Wall one day.
Chat soon,
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