This was my first trip to China. Prior to my visit to Shenzhen, I was speaking to many of friends, who had been to China. All of them said the same things:

 

 

 

Shenzhen is a large town close to the Hong Kong - China border. This border is still being kept active. The best way to go to Shenzhen was to fly to Hong Kong and take a mini bus from Hong Kong to Shenzhen. The mini bus operators only accept either Hong Kong Dollars or Chinese Yen. Credit cards are not accepted.

 

I had taken Chinese translated print-outs of the hotel address and other places I was likely to visit. I also had three pages of Chinese words to make basic conversation. But these help you only to an extent. For example, I was dropped in a City Bus Terminal, instead of being dropped in my Hotel. I had to use my Dumb Charade skills (which is not much) to learn to get back to the hotel. That was some mini adventure to start with.

 

The bridge connecting Hong Kong and Shenzhen has a unique construction. Hong Kong has Left hand traffic, similar to other British Colonies. China has Right Hand traffic. Close to point of entry to China, the right and left lanes cross each other so that the car automatically lands on the correct side on the other side of the border. I found this interesting.

 

The immigration procedure was also interesting. If you go by mini Bus, the immigration would be completed even without getting out of the car. The immigration authorities look at the passengers through a small window as the mini bus moves back and forth to present a satisfactory view.

 

After daily meetings, I had one day to go around. On the previous day, I was speaking to my friend Vasantha Kumar in Hong Kong and he suggested that I carry an umbrella as the temperature in Shenzhen is hot. So I went to a nearby 7-11 shop and bought an umbrella. I took a taxi from the hotel to go to Splendid China. Splendid China is a place they have erected miniatures of all the great monuments of China. I bought a ticket and entered. The woman at the entrance gave me an "English" brochure. It was really hot and humid. What a surprise, the first thing that greets you in Splendid China was this colorful arrangement of umbrellas over the steps that lead to the displays. I realized how umbrellas are an integral part of the life of Chinese in Shenzhen.

 

I noticed from the English Brochure that there was a Chinese folk dance program and went there. There was a Chinese Guard and two attractive women with yellow faces typical of Chinese depicting a story of a man trying to court the Chinese woman by offering her many things. The dance was accompanied by an arrangement of large Drums of various sizes and some small string instrument like Mandolin. I was not very successful in capturing the dance movements. Here is one of the Mudras for which I do not know the meaning. The dance is simple. The foot-work was simply rotating and orbiting. Most of the focus was on movement of hands in flowing gestures.

 

The place also had a small exhibition of folk stuff typically found in Chinese village homes. There were a few attractive paintings. One of them looked Persian and another looked Kashmiri. That made me wonder how Chinese are these Chinese paintings. However this image on the right appeared down-right Chinese. Incidentally, Chinese women shy away from being photographed. Fortunately, no one hit me.

 

After the dance program, I was walking towards the other exhibits and I found this interesting "Wall of Masks" outside a replica of an old palace. I found more masks inside as well. I do not understand the usage for these masks. Are they decorations? Are they meant to ward of the evil, like what we do in India? I do not know yet. But the masks looked colorful and attractive. I have a few more pictures in my Gallery.

 

I then found the Chinese Wall, one of the wonders of the world, a miniature of course. The Chinese Wall runs almost across the entire exhibition to demonstrate its size. I also took some pictures of the beautiful Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven. It was interesting to see Bonsai trees all around the monuments to make the trees match the size of the monuments.

 

        

 

By lunch time, I was completely drained and was grasping for breath. I noticed that there was a show depicting Chinese war on horses and by Gods grace there was a Gallery with benches. I went in and slumped on one of the benches. The Chinese performers were amazing on the horse. They jumped out and jumped on even as the horse was running. They bent all the way down to pick up clothes lying on the ground etc. It was a nice show. Since I could not put up with the heat any more, I took a taxi and returned to my room after the show. It was raining in the evening and it was time for me to leave for Hong Kong the next day.

 

 

My friend Vasantha Kumar has been living in Hong Kong for over 20 years. But this is the first time I managed to travel to Hong Kong. I stayed there for 2 days and planned to catch the flight back to India the third day. The first day was dedicated to Citiscape and the next day we visited the famous Lantau Island.

 

From the city one can take a Winch Tram to Victoria Peak to get a breathtaking view of Hong Kong. Of course, we can also reach there by Taxi, but the experience of travelling in the tram is different. The 1.4 KM Peak Tram, as it is known, was opened for traffic in 1888. It has two counter-balancing trams, when one goes up the other comes down. I was intrigued to find that there was only one track. We figured while coming down that there is a loop and a station at the point where the trams cross so that they pass each other without colliding. The Victoria Park has a watch tower and some shops. Here is the view from Victoria Peak. It was an overcast day and the mist kills the view. The water behind is the Victoria Harbour.

 

 

Hong Kong has 7650 sky-scrappers, the highest among any city. The reason for the high number is attributed the small (1.3 KM on an average) strip of land between the water-front and the steep hills. This provides an impressive view from the Victoria Harbour during the night when a laser and light show is conducted. Here is a partial panorama of the sky-line from Victoria Harbour.

 

 

Since I did not have a tripod or other camera support, I had to use my Camera at 1600 ISO with a Canon 50mm lens. The laser light show was very impressive. I understand that a phenomenal amount of Electricity is spent for the 30 minute light show every night.

 

We also did some local shopping before going for the Laser Show.

 

After this wonderful experience, we returned home to take rest for going to Lantau Island the next day.

 

 

The attractions at the Lantau Island were the Tian Tan Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery. There is a trekking route available to reach the Lantau peak. Lantau Island can be reached from Tung Chung either by bus or by Cable Car. Bus journey is faster and common place. Cable Car travel requires waiting in queues and is more memorable. The 5.7 KM Cable Car, similar to what one would find in Singapore Sentosa Island, connects Ngong Ping Cable Car Terminus and Tung Chung. The first section goes over the sea and then it climbs up to the Ngong Ping Peak. The Cable Car is operating since November 2006 and has 109 Gondolas and can carry 3500 people per hour. But it took us close to 40 minutes (with some luck) to get into the Gondola. You can also book a Crystal Cabin with the floor also made of glass.

 

The Tian Tan Buddha becomes visible after you reach the Ngong Ping and gives a beautiful view of the 112 feet tall statue. Tian Tan Buddha is the major attraction at Lantau Island. The other attractions are the Ngong Ping village set up like a traditional Chinese Village close to Ngong Ping Cable Car station and the Po Lin Monastery. The climb of 268 steps would have been pleasant but for the tropical humid climate of Hong Kong. The 250 tonne Buddha is perhaps one of the most photographed structure in Hong Kong. There is a prayer room below the statue and a few more statues around the Buddha statue.

 

The Po Lin Monastery was our last target on the Lantau Island. The monastery looked shrouded behind smoke. As we approached, we found that the smoke was coming from giant sized Incense Sticks (Agarbathis) that the Chinese worshippers have placed in front of the worship hall in the monastery. The monastery gets very busy during lunch time as this is the best place to have Chinese lunch on the Lantau Island. The Vegetarian meal was refreshing and light. After the lunch, we did not feel like walking. We sat for a few minutes and set back to Hong Kong for shopping.

 

The shopping center in Hong Kong was looking much like our Burma Bazaar but in a much larger scale. You can spend hours in the place looking at innovative Electronic items that are sold in this market. However, we did not have much time and we had to rush back after buying a couple of things to give to the family.

 

There ended my very short visit to Hong Kong. I would like to go to this place again, possibly during winter.