Hello Everyone!
So, yesterday I finally crossed the border into Mainland China! For those who are confused as to what that means, a quick explanation: Hong Kong and Macau are both considered Special Administrative Regions of China, and each has a high degree of independence, including their own constitutions and immigration systems. Mainland China refers to the part of China that isn't Hong Kong or Macau. Visiting Mainland China requires a visa, but for the city just across from Hong Kong-Shenzhen-you can get a special "Shenzhen visa" to visit for up to five days, only Shenzhen. So, I decided yesterday to make the trip to Shenzhen along with my friends Alicia and Rosalind.
After crossing the border, China is very different. Traffic drives on the right, written Chinese uses the simplified characters (these are only used in the Mainland, all other places, including HK, use traditional characters), most of the Chinese spoken was Mandarin (as opposed to the Mandarin Spoken in HK and Macau), and Chinese money is used. Because Shenzhen is directly on the border, there are malls everywhere, and many things are much cheaper. After a lunch of dumplings in a mall, we took the metro to a park in the suburbs, where we explored lots of different displays. Yesterday was quite cold in the region (only 5 degrees!), and so after some time outside we headed back on the metro to another mall, where we dined at a great Chinese restaurant that Alicia knew. The style of dining was like western Chinese-order a few dishes and share-but the dishes weren't. We started with fennel beans and bamboo shoots, and traditional Chinese wine, and followed that with beancurd (Tofu) skin rolls (which are much much more delicious than they sound) and a corn pancake. After stopping at a snack shop and a trinket shop, we headed to the mall on the border to do some shopping. The mall was filled with people selling all kinds of goods; luckily, we went towards the end of the day, so it was nowhere near as chaotic as it likely usually is.
After finishing shopping we headed straight back to HK. Shenzhen is both interesting and strange-its amazing how much different it is just across the river. It's also amazing just how much shopping there is, with the stores literally continuing right up until outbound customs (In Asia, and in fact much of the world, you have to clear the customs for the country you are leaving and the one you are entering, so in this case we had to clear Hong Kong and China customs in both directions).
This will probably be my last post from HK this semester. My first exam is tomorrow, followed by another exam Tuesday, with a few dinners in between, and then leaving for Canada. Hopefully I'll be uploading some more photos to facebook over the holidays so everyone can see what I haven't written about yet. Until next time, happy holidays everyone!
Friday 17 December 2010
Thursday 9 December 2010
A nice long break.
As the title implies, I've been lucky enough not to be stuck with a very burdensome exam schedule this semester (doubtlessly it'll catch up with me next semester!), and so I'm taking the opportunity to see more Hong Kong and spend more time with friends, especially the ones who are only here as exchange students for one semester.
There have been a few beach trips, involving picnics, and building sandcastles with people who've never built them before, and having random tourists in suits take photos of us from a distance, and enjoying the fact that it's still beach weather here whilst Canada is under a blanket of snow!
I bought a new camera, to replace the one that I broke during the superpass dinner. I've made the leap from 8.1 to 12 megapixels, so hopefully it will be noticeable in the quality of the photos I'm taking now.
I've made a few fantastic cultural trips. Last weekend, after Dim Sum with my roommate Joseph, I went to Kowloon Walled City Park. Kowloon Walled city was one of those strange political anomalies that nerds such as myself love: an area of Kowloon which belonged to China during British rule, it was effectively lawless, which lead the establishment of plenty of industry, housing, and illicit activity. Owing to this, the governments agreed to demolish it, and a beautiful park was created in it's place. It's fascinating how a place that was so lively and chaotic can be transformed, by a matter of civil planning, into a peaceful reprieve from the city. For those interested, pictures are up on my Facebook!
Tuesday night I went to go take a look at the Christmas tree in Statue Square-anyone who follows the American reality TV series "The Amazing Race," may have seen this spot on a recent episode as a "pit stop." The Christmas tree which has been placed there was made out of Crystal and donated by Swarovsky!
Finally, yesterday (Wednesday), I went with my friend Alicia to two temples. First, we went to Wong Tai Sin, a huge Daoist temple complex which was full of visitors lighting incense, drawing lots (a type of fortune telling where one thinks of a question, shakes a tin of sticks until one falls out, then reads the fortune corresponding to the number on that stick), and praying at the various temples in the large complex. Second, we visited a Buddhist temple and garden in the area of Diamond Hill. This temple/park was designed to reflect the Tang Dynasty's style, which we in the west commonly associate with Japan. In keeping with tradition, all buildings were built of inter-locking planks, and thus no nails were used. Alicia gave me fantastic explanations of everything in both temples, explaining the significance, the styles, and translating (and helping me to read, since I'm starting to be able to). 谢谢你Alicia！
There have been a few beach trips, involving picnics, and building sandcastles with people who've never built them before, and having random tourists in suits take photos of us from a distance, and enjoying the fact that it's still beach weather here whilst Canada is under a blanket of snow!
I bought a new camera, to replace the one that I broke during the superpass dinner. I've made the leap from 8.1 to 12 megapixels, so hopefully it will be noticeable in the quality of the photos I'm taking now.
I've made a few fantastic cultural trips. Last weekend, after Dim Sum with my roommate Joseph, I went to Kowloon Walled City Park. Kowloon Walled city was one of those strange political anomalies that nerds such as myself love: an area of Kowloon which belonged to China during British rule, it was effectively lawless, which lead the establishment of plenty of industry, housing, and illicit activity. Owing to this, the governments agreed to demolish it, and a beautiful park was created in it's place. It's fascinating how a place that was so lively and chaotic can be transformed, by a matter of civil planning, into a peaceful reprieve from the city. For those interested, pictures are up on my Facebook!
Tuesday night I went to go take a look at the Christmas tree in Statue Square-anyone who follows the American reality TV series "The Amazing Race," may have seen this spot on a recent episode as a "pit stop." The Christmas tree which has been placed there was made out of Crystal and donated by Swarovsky!
Finally, yesterday (Wednesday), I went with my friend Alicia to two temples. First, we went to Wong Tai Sin, a huge Daoist temple complex which was full of visitors lighting incense, drawing lots (a type of fortune telling where one thinks of a question, shakes a tin of sticks until one falls out, then reads the fortune corresponding to the number on that stick), and praying at the various temples in the large complex. Second, we visited a Buddhist temple and garden in the area of Diamond Hill. This temple/park was designed to reflect the Tang Dynasty's style, which we in the west commonly associate with Japan. In keeping with tradition, all buildings were built of inter-locking planks, and thus no nails were used. Alicia gave me fantastic explanations of everything in both temples, explaining the significance, the styles, and translating (and helping me to read, since I'm starting to be able to). 谢谢你Alicia！
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)