This past Saturday, we decided to pack up our passports and head across the border into mainland China to explore the bastion of consumerism that is Shenzhen, a rather sketchy town just across the border. It took us roughly an hour and a half to get there from our dorm at HKU by bus, subway, and train. Although Hong Kong is under Chinese control, they still have separate passports and their own immigration laws. We had to fill out paperwork and get our passports stamped to leave Hong Kong and cross over into Shenzhen.
The main event here: a massive five-story shopping center selling all kinds of stuff, much of it counterfeit - custom suits, fake designer shirts, purses, pirated DVDs, Chinese art, and pretty much anything else you can imagine.
We began our adventure by going to one of the many tailors on the fifth floor where the people who wanted a custom-made suit had to get measured and place the order. Their suits would be delivered to our dorm at HKU within a week.
After we were finished with the suits, we began venturing around checking out the various shops. Every time we turned around, we were ambushed by someone who would run up to us and mumble, shout or ask "YouwannabuyDVD?" or "Missymissyyouwannabuyhandbag?" in a very aggressive way. A few of them even grabbed us by the arm and tried to drag us into their store.
Eventually we made our way to a restaurant inside the mall, which was very good and gave us a boost to walk around for another few hours.
After that, we all went into a massive massage parlor and signed up for a one hour session of Chinese massage. The options were Chinese or Thai, the difference being that the Chinese style focuses on circulation and the muscles, while the Thai style is the one that is known for stretching limbs in every conceivable direction and cracking every bone and joint in your body. We were taken into separate rooms divided by gender and would eventually meet up in the main waiting area when we finished. The session was amazing, although at times it felt like I was getting tap-danced on for what seemed like forever.
We went through a few more shops, and then the girls went to get a manicure and pedicure at one of the many salons in the building, while the guys took a seat and waited. We called it a night and a few hours later made it back to Hong Kong, after having cleared customs to leave China and re-enter Hong Kong.
Our next big adventure: dragon boat races on Tuesday... Stay tuned.
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