DAY THREE – SHENZHEN SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE
Today I decided to go to the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone which is basically the area of China just outside from Hong Kong. I Got up early and walked to the train station caught the train and then about half way there I realised that I would probably need my passport to get into China, even though I was already in China, because Hong Kong is in China. Ever been to a country that you need a passport to go from one state to the next? Well that’s communism for you. An hour and a half later I was back on the train with my passport in hand. On the second journey I noticed some Australian women with large rolling suitcases also heading for Shenzhen. The odd thing about these ladies was that the suitcases were all empty. As they should be when you go to one of the cheapest places in the world where you can but almost anything.
At the full international level border between HK and China I was stung for a temporary visa to get entry into China. I wonder if this is the reason for maintaining the border or if it really is all about controlling the masses.
The first place I visited in Shenzhen was Louhu City which is a noisy tourist trap where each shop is staffed by at least three bored local teenagers who have mastered English up to the “come into my shop, oh that is only eight million dingbats” level. After an hour in this hellhole anyone could be forgiven for thinking that PRC stood for the Pushy Republic of China.
To take a break I visited the local Russian Air Craft Carrier called Minsk World. This was well cool and had all sorts of Russian jets and helicopters. It is also staffed by incredibly fit Chinese girls if you ever get a chance to visit.
On the way back to the border I dropped by Dongmen (snigger) Market for some more pushy sales torture. Fortunately Dongmen is nothing at all like the Louhu City tourist trap. Imaging the biggest shopping district you have ever been to and then double it. And not just double it on one dimension. Double is in every dimension and this is the sort of size we are talking about. Now cram it with half a million Chinese (half of whom are talking at any given moment) and four Australian women (who are all talking at any given moment) and you start to get the idea. Now you are probably starting to get an idea of the scale of this place. The best I could do in this shoppers paradise was to find the Starbucks and pick a direction to walk in. Once I found the Starbucks again, which could take 5 minutes or an hour, I would pick another direction. The double advantage of the Starbucks is that it had the only English speaking local I had found on this side of the border. When I was done being lost shopping I asked for even more directions back to the border.
This brings me onto my next point. The people from Hong Kong and China a really nice. Except the pushy teenagers in Louhu City that is. In Hong Kong they speak a lot more English but most of the people I have met here have been really nice and very helpful. I have also caught a number of taxis (cos they are dirt cheap) and at no stage has there been even the slightest hint of a scam. Those of you who read my blog know my thoughts on taxi drivers in the developing world so I was pleasantly surprised to find that everything was above board here.
Sadly I have had to tell the girlfriend that she can never come here as her smaller female brain would not be able to handle the shear inundation of shopping available here and would probably explode all over the inside of her skull. I think eventually she come to understand that this is for her own good and I am pretty sure she will start talking to me again soon.
