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2 Mar 2007

Post 200: Shenzhen and Hong Kong (English)

Wow, after about one and a half year of filling this blog I have reached the magical number of 200 posts!
But anyway, I might be the only one interested in this fact, so I go on and tell about my China trip:
After a "nice and relaxing", but after all quite ok 24h traintrip from Yichang to Guangzhou, and another 1 hour in a Intercity like train, I arrived in Shenzhen on March 1st. Though I had my own bed in the train (even a softsleeper), I was pretty tired after arriving in the former fishing village and now pulsing metropolis of Shenzhen. Only the fact that I was not travelling alone and expecting to see my good old friend Daniel kept me alive ;-).
Shenzhen has litterally not existed until about 25 years ago and is growing at a typical Chinese and incredibel highspeed, that new city districts get finished about every year. The metro system is still young and only a couple of lines are finished yet, but it is a very modern and clean system. Just as I am used to now in Taipei. There are no really traditional sights in Shenzhen, but a few new ones, like an Ocean Park or an amusement park where the best touristical highlights of the whole world can be watched in miniature. I didn´t go to any of Shenzhen´s attractions until now. Shenzhen also has a very nice Southern flair, with beaches and palm trees throughout the city.
And besides that there is another not to ignore highlight: Shenzhen is located right at the border to Hong Kong. That makes it possible to walk into Hong Kong. And that is exactly what I did today. Walking across the border, stepping into the train and riding into one of the most exciting cities on this planet.
And I can state, though I did probably not even see 1/5 of the whole city: Hong Kong is the trip worth. You can do excellent shopping there (clothing, computers), seeing a lot of modern buildings (not as modern as in the booming cities of China, yet more established), a lot of Culture, typical Cantonese street markets, and more and more. And DISNEY WORLD (what a pity, we had not enough time to go there this time)
Another interesting experience where the people there: A lot different from the typical Mainlander, and more like the people from Taiwan. That means that everything is a lot more quiet, less dirty and relaxed, and people practice more of what Germans call Rücksicht, which means to look out for each other. People in the big Mainland Cities, simply tend to be more rude and everything has to be fast and furious. But as far as I am concered is this due to the developements people here and there undergo and things will adjust according to time.
We had a very nice day in Hong Kong, with nice weather and some "typical" travelling adventures....