Living in China: Touring China: ShenZhen: Beijing: Nanjing: SuZhou: Three Gorges Dam.Arriving at the Hotel at 7 pm, we booked in to once again find ourselves faced with a room with one queen sized bed in it. Again we insisted and received a twin room. We stayed at the JinHui hotel which you can find listed at www.ctrip.com. It is located at LuoHu (lor - who) and is 2 minutes walk from the cargo vehicle border crossing into Xiang Gang (Hong Kong).
In China, May Day or Labour Day is celebrated as a week long holiday.
This year I was invited to travel with my unofficial student Zhan Yan and his mother Tian Ying, to ShenZhen in the South of China. As often happens, the best laid plans of mice and men go astray, and Tian Ying was not able to go, but suggested that I go with Zhan Yan and stay with his relatives there. We were scheduled to go by bus but I decided that I would rather fly and insisted on paying for both our fares. At the last minute it transpired that we were not able to stay with his relatives, and so I ended up paying for hotel accommodation for both of us. But a little more on that later.
Thursday April 29th (the night before we left), there was something like a typhoon hit our area and caused quite an amount of damage, some of which you can see in this first photograph.
This photograph was taken from my bathroom window, and is of a farm house. Whilst I did not lose my roof, the wind and rain were so strong, that water was forced through every crack in my house and I was flooded within 5 minutes of the onset.
This next shot is taken from the far side of the dining room and shows some mats on the floor. I threw them there to stop the water advancing into the dining area and the kitchen.
The water was being driven through the spaces around the front doors with such force that furniture on the other side of the room had water on top of it. My students room was inundated, but fortunately, thanks to his having some mats in front of his door, the water stayed put in his room and was thus prevented from entering mine.
On Friday afternoon April 30th, Zhan Yan and I set off by bus for Wuhan, where we stayed the night at the Qing Chuan Jiari Jiudian (Holiday Inn Riverside).
THIS FOLLOWING PICTURE although taken on our way home a week later, is just a nice shot of some local scenery not far from Hong Hu.
These next two speak for themselves and are the long and close up shot of an interesting piece of artwork, located at an off-ramp from the freeway, not far from Wuhan
Despite booking a twin room at the Holiday Inn at HanYang, and despite letting them know that I was accompanied by a 14 year old boy, and despite seeing us face to face upon arrival, they gave us a room with a queen size bed. Go figure! Although we have slept together before, I insisted on a twin room, and they were happy to accommodate us.
The following morning I went down to their travel office and purchased two tickets to ShenZhen at a discount. Instead of the listed 980 yuan price, I purchased them for only 690 yuan each.
I booked an afternoon flight to ShenZhen so that I would have time to visit the mountain park over the road from the Hotel. (Cost is 3 yuan per person to the mountain and another 2 yuan later). Last time I was in Wuhan some friends took me there, but I did not take my camera and was determined to take some photos. So here they are.
This in fact was the first thing I saw the morning after our arrival in Wuhan
This photograph was taken at the top of the mountain and is of the cable car which travels across the river to HanKou and back again. From memory it cost 15 yuan for the return trip, and takes about 20 minutes.
At least you would not have far to fall at this point
While the Cable Car Centre is located at the top of the mountain, the following photograph is of the steps and archway located just past the park entrance (which you would miss if you were not a local). This is Zhan Yan. Notice the Cauldron in the background.
Here I am playing at being Hercules!
This gives you an idea of what to expect in this mountain park
This is not perhaps what you might have expected.
Here I am again paying obeisance to someone or other.
In my last article, I said that I would return to ZhongShan park and get some photographs. Well after Zhan Yan and I checked out of the hotel, we went to the park, but it was so crowded and is so big, that I could not find the amusement rides section, so those photographs will have to wait.
At 3:30 pm we were on the plane to ShenZhen, and arrived just after 5 pm. Rather than take a taxi to the hotel we caught the 330 bus at the airport (20 yuan each) into town. From the terminus we intended to take a taxi to the hotel, but not one taxi driver would accept us, and we had no idea why. Over the next hour we made about 10 calls to the hotel, but they were as useless as tits on a bull. We did however find some people who gave us directions, assuring us that we were but 10 minutes walk from the Hotel. After one hour of following the directions given by four people, we found ourselves back where we started.
I made Zhan Yan approach yet another Taxi driver, and upon his refusal, I made ZY demand to know why the driver refused. Now I don't pretend to understand the reason, but it has something to do with 'how' the taxi needs to cross the road, but the driver did - thank god - explain that if we crossed the walk bridge over the road, we would have no trouble in hailing a taxi. He was right! And to cap it all off, the driver came from Hong Hu!
Arriving at the Hotel at 7 pm, we booked in to once again find ourselves faced with a room with one queen sized bed in it. Again we insisted and received a twin room. We stayed at the JinHui hotel which you can find listed at http://www.ctrip.com It is located at LuoHu (lor - who) and is 2 minutes walk from the cargo vehicle border crossing into Xiang Gang (Hong Kong).
An enhanced night time photo of the crossing.
Literally just 2 minutes if that from the hotel.
A Daytime shot of a border lookout post, taken on the way back to the airport.
This is a shot taken of LuoHu. The place is heavily commercial and no different from any other big city in the world, but at least this shot with the park in front, makes it looks ok.
This was taken from the No.2. scenic bus.
It is a double decker local bus really but passes some nice scenery.
A shot taken from the bedroom window
(and we were 4 stories up already).
Unfortunately I never got around to taking the one shot I really wanted. There were three copper coloured buildings located as to fit into a camera frame. This is the only shot I got during a bus ride.
Here is some nice scenery. Taken when we went to the beach. Take the 443 from LuoHu - cost is around 7 yuan. Get off at the first beach.
Looking across the Bay
This is the Beach. Just talk a look at these little angels.
Not even the beach is safe from the Chinese custom of throwing rubbish everywhere. Even in the water you find yourself surrounded by it.
Coming from Australia, I would normally freak if something brushed my legs in the water, but as the beach has 'shark nets' I felt confident that I was only being brushed by rubbish, although outside the nets I did see one humungus big jelly fish. Unfortunately the camera was locked in a locker.
Shark Nets
The final coup de grace
Over one block and down a little, there is a hotel named - 9 9 9 - and it appears to have a disco or something attached to it that juts out into the car park. the daytime photo I took was nowhere near as spectacular as this enhanced nightime photo.
Talk about an alien environment!
WELL - that was my trip to ShenZhen. The beach was nice to visit despite the rubbish and despite the shower rooms having no place to rest your dry clothes while you wash the salt off. Coming from Australia I am spoiled. Maybe our free toilets and change rooms are not so flash, but at least you can change from wet to dry and not wet to less wet!!!!
On a rating of 1 - 10 with 10 the highest, I'd rate Shenzhen '2'. Sorry!
Despite my earlier statements about the staff at the JinHui hotel, they did turn out to be very helpful. They contacted a travel agent for us and we got return flights for 590 yuan each compared with the earlier cost of 690 yuan at the Qing Chuan and the 980 listed price.
The JinHui is very inexpensive (1100 yuan 4 nights). It is probably 3 star, although I didn't check out their European and chines restaurants. It is the first hotel that I have ever stayed in which did not pester me to make up my room. I usually have to fight with management and staff to have my room left alone.
R.P.BenDedek (pseudonym) is from Brisbane Australia and is the author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' at http://www.kingscalendar.com His academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
He also writes photographic 'Stories from China' and social editorial commentaries, both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing newspaper columnist at Magic City Morning Star News in Maine USA.
Trip to ShenZhen - May Day Holiday 2004 | 2 comments | Sign Up
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Written on 05/10/04 at 17:26:12 AEST by trevorpayne
I am always amazed at the style and type of architecture adopted by the chinese in their parks etc, and where they put it. It always seems incongrous, and in bad-taste. I am speaking of the modern sculpture, that is. In the picture of the cable cars; what is the round objects on the rooftops - airconditioning or water reservoirs?
Try getting some sand filled "sausage bags" for the doors. It will keep the water out. You could use two-sided tape for the door frames.
the round things are indeed the water - something that I didn't manage to do was get some good photos of the variety of architectual styles in ShenZhen. Each building on its own is simply beautiful - the architects do a great job - but of course - like a cemetry - in amongst all the other gravestones, one really nice one doesn't really stand out.
Don't know the artisitic word for Chinese part sculpture - but it is everywhere - and often leaves you wondering what the hell it is supposed to me. the one in wuhan 'I think' is an archer!
