A SHORT TRIP TO SHENZEN, CHINA

SATURDAY, 1ST DECEMBER ~ On the third day of our trip, it was time for us to cross the border and made our way to China. Our destination would be a tourist spot which was known as Window of the World. From the hotel, we took a bus to Sheung Hui Train Station before catching another train to Lo Wu Station, which should be the last stop for the East Rail Line.

Since it was a Saturday, there were a lot of people moving towards Shenzen and I thought that they could be people working in Hong Kong who were going back to their hometowns for the weekends. But not to worry as the train service here was really effective. There were frequent trips that could accommodate people who just appeared from nowhere.

From Lo Wu, we walked to the Hong Kong Immigration then continued to the Chinese Immigration checkpoint. Even though there were hundreds of people flocking the place, the service was quite fast as the Chinese nationals had different lanes for passport clearance. For Malaysians and most probably citizens of other countries, you need a Chinese visa to enter Shenzen.

By this time, we were already in China and it is known as Luo Hu on this side of the land. We then had to search for the train station that would take us to our destination but we spent a short while observing the surrounding area.

Situated at the border, Shenzen is a developing city and flourishing with business activities. Some people said that many Malaysians come here, as well as Guangzhou, because these cities offer wholesale items for businessmen at reasonable prices.

in the Shenzen Metro

We successfully found the Metro station and the system here was almost the same with what we have with Kuala Lumpur LRT. After paying for the fares, we were given two plastic coins which functioned as smart cards. From the first station to the Window of the World cost only 5 yuan which was considerably cheap considering the distance which was quite far. By the way, the entry for our visit to this tourist attraction will be published later - there are just too many pictures.

 

electronic gadgets on sale

Right outside the checkpoint complex, there was this multi-storey mall which was another important landmark for both the tourists and locals - Luo Wu Commercial Centre. A typical Chinese shopping mall which housed many vendors and stalls, and again we had to practise our haggling skills here, something that I did not fancy. Nevertheless, you could spend the whole day here if you really want to visit each and every shop. We stopped at this place on our way back to Hong Kong (we didn't spend the night in Shenzen). There were just too many shops located in a maze-like area and after sometime we got tired of walking and recognizing which shop was which, and defnitely not enough energy to bargain for the prices. I am not a shopaholic so it doesn't really matter.
 

That was one long day of travelling, Hong Kong to China and back to Hong Kong again. That didn't matter, as we had been to two countries after three days, and we would be going to one more neighbouring country the very next day!

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO JUMP TO OUR VISIT TO THE WINDOW OF THE WORLD.

 OTHER RELATED LINKS:
Window of the World [PART 1] [PART 2][PART 3]