Wednesday, January 21, 2009

ShenZhen (09-Jan-09 till 11-Jan-09) – Friends




To ShenZhen was to meet friends. Teddy, met him 3.5 yrs ago in XinJiang, China. He is one of the handful met on the road who still keep in contact. Lani, I knew her in Sudan. She is working with her British husband here. I’m really happy for her marriage.

The hostel is situated quite far away from the city center. Had thought to shifting out the night of my arrival. Luckily I didn’t. The hostel itself was a converted loft. Nearby there are many more used factories converted artistically mainly to design related businesses. It’s a lovely place.

I spent a few hours in the shopping district DongMen. The crowd was so dense that people were almost elbowing each other. Went to a shopping mall frequented by the locals. The space was so packed and narrow, I think it has seriously violated emergency evacuation regulations. Most of the items seen were imitated products… cost a fraction of the original if you could bargain hard. I bought a jumper… for EUR8!... Lani said it could be cheaper…

Want to thank Chuan Dong for his kind companion to show me around ShenZhen. He is voluble, knowledgeable and promising. I bet he will be successful in his career.