Last Friday and Saturday, Nate and I made our first trip into "Real China." (I know, it's terrible that we've been neglecting China, but there's only so much time to travel when you have a full time job!) We went with a small group of teachers from school just over the border to Shenzhen. It probably takes about 1 1/2 to get there, then you have to go through customs. China might as well be a completely unrelated country to HK, as we had to apply for a separate China visa to go there and were afforded no privileges for being HK residents.
So, about Shenzhen. Shenzhen is a Special Economic Zone in China. As it is just over the border and has easy access to water, it is a prime location for commerce. On our trip to Shenzhen, we went to Lo Wu (pictured below). Lo Wu is a sort of shopping center, but definitely nothing like we had experienced before. It is crammed full of tiny shops which are crammed full of all kinds of goods for sale.
One of the big reasons people go to Lo Wu is for the tailors and fabric market. It is definitely cheaper to have clothes made there than to buy them in Hong Kong, but we've heard mixed reports about how the clothes actually turn out. From what we hear, it works best to take clothes you love and have them copied. Nate and I took a pair of his pants and two summer dresses of mine to try having them copied. We first went to the tailor to find out how much fabric we needed, then we went to the fabric market to pick out material. You wouldn't believe how much fabric there was in this place (see below for a mere sample). While we tried to quickly look through fabrics, vendors were constantly trying to show us things, saying, "Missy, missy!" This was probably one of the most fun parts of the trip, getting to imagine all of the clothing possibilities.
Other things that can be found at Lo Wu: knock off (and a few real) designer purses and wallets, DVDs, electronics, jewelry, clothing, sporting goods, etc. In addition to clothing tailors, there are also plenty of tailors who will make bedding, curtains, table furnishings, etc.
The thing about Lo Wu is that it is total chaos. People will practically chase you around trying to convince you in broken English to come buy their goods. You absolutely cannot browse; you must look like you are on a mission at all times. It is a sport. On Saturday, it got so bad that ignoring the people harassing us, or evening saying a very firm, "NO!" did not help. People started touching my arms, and then I was done with Shenzhen. I just don't feel comfortable with strange men touching me. Unfortunately for you, all of this translates to very few photos. If Nate's blond hair doesn't scream "gweilo" enough, a camera definitely would! Moral of the story: you must do Lo Wu in small doses for it to be fun.
Lucky for us, we had a nice hotel in which to escape the madness. This is a photo of Nate with the Shangri-La's gigantic moon cake. (Just for reference, an average moon cake is round and about 3 inches in diameter.)
This last photo is of another teacher, Claire, and me at dinner. I ordered a bowl of fresh fruit, and they brought out this huge bowl of fruit covered in mayonnaise. Yum!
