It’s in the delta of the Pearl River, close to Hong Kong, making it a booming industrial city. It’s known for a quick economic growth, for only 30 years ago it was a small fishing village by the name of Baoan County. It was renamed into Shenzhen city in 1979 and the quick growth and success can be seen in their metros. I haven’t seen a single elderly person there, only young people around me, which actually seemed somewhat strange.
There are many historic places in the city, but also many theme parks for learning and having fun. The Splendid China and China Folk Culture Villages take us through the annals of Chinese history; the Window of the Word takes us all over the globe in just one day.
The population is constantly increasing each year. People come here in search of a better life and a steady job, which are the two main reasons for the ever more densely populated city. The immigrants from all over Chine come to this place, bringing with them their cultural and above all culinary variety. You can taste eight different types of Chinese cooking, and I bet that sounds delicious. But is it really? I used to love visiting Chinese restaurants, but in China my attitude changed slightly. I love tasting various new tastes, but they haven’t convinced me. Our Chinese restaurants are very different from their local cuisine. It is edible, but we just aren’t used to the taste. You need time, to get used to the tastes and spices, so I leaned more towards rice and soya sauces. I won’t forget a trip to the market, where a salesman shoved a snake on a stick in front of me and... there went my trip to the market and nearly my lunch as well.
Despite a full schedule, we managed to go out shopping in the only a few year old Shenzhen. It was time for haggling and shopping. After sitting in the conference room without a single ray of sunshine, a few of us decided to go around town. It still has me laughing thinking about it; imagine, two Pakistanis, a Croatian, a Czech, a Danish couple and a Slovenian went shopping in China. We hit the Chinese shops, where everything is shining, flashing, moving, jumping and noisy. While my Croatian colleague and I were trying the remotely controlled helicopters (we bought 5 of them), my Pakistani friend asked me to help him choose the “original” Dior glasses for his daughter. While digging through a pile of sunglasses we saw the Danish couple haggling for a wristwatch from who knows which manufacturer. At that time I helped my Czech friend find toys for his kids and also thinking about my nephew and some additional suitcases, to bring it all back home. Everything was on the move and I felt the shopkeepers watching my every move to kidnap me, before someone else would. I felt like a turkey with a golden crust on the dinner table at thanksgiving. It was loud and lively and at times annoying. Our little group got lost in the crowd; just a few of us remained together, waiting for the rest, in vain, at the meeting point. Full of bags like mules we went back to the subway, making it clearly obvious we were tourists.
If you decide to visit the town I suggest you stay at the Shenzhen Loft hostel. It’s very cozy, with friendly staff and nice surroundings. The rooms are also very comfortable and there’s a lounge connected to the indoor and outdoor bar. A perfect place to relax or have a breakfast, nice sip of a refreshing drink or surf the net.
Since I found Shenzhen to be nothing special, I was looking forward to visiting the fairytale city of Guilin. A small group of us took the bus to Guangzhou and flew to the pearl of Chinese tourism - Guilin. It’s known for natural beauty, which casts magical spells on tourists, and historical treasures dating more than two millennia in the past. The landscape is just beautiful, with odd hill tops full of pine trees.
One of the main attractions of Guilin is the giant nature shaped elephant. Seeing it, you begin believing in the legend of how it got there. It is not a real animal, but a stone elephant, dipping his trunk into the Li River for centuries. A huge, tree covered hill, looks like the largest dry land mammal, slowly drinking from the river. The cavern between the mouth and trunk only enhances the feeling and tourists can go through it in a tourist boat. The cave higher up reminds us of an eye, from where people can have a great panoramic view of the city. The two story high pagoda on the back of the elephant seems like a vase the animal is proudly carrying. The legend says the elephant descended from the sky to help the workers and it should have angered the sky ruler so much it turned him into stone, while he was drinking water. In nights of full moon the scene is even more beautiful. Many artists find their inspiration here and the people are very proud of this unique sight.
From here we took a bus to the Yangdi village, where after a few kilometers we got glimpses of phenomenal views, pointing towards the sky. Surrounded by a shrug of mist, covered with pine trees and dominating above rice fields… it seemed the green just overflew from a painters tin and covered the landscape. Truly unforgettable. We drove through this extreme beauty, until we reached a small village. Before the bus door opened, an army of souvenir vendors surrounded the bus. They were like a swarm of flies, that wouldn’t leave us alone until we reached the bamboo floats and headed down the river. The wide river showed us tall mountaintops above the view of unspoiled nature. We enjoyed the tranquility and ever surprising nature. The cameras just went off on their own. The farmers with wide straw hats and water buffalos on fields of rice, along with fishers on bamboo rafts just added to the feeling of a fairytale.
We reached the Xing Ping village, called the crown jewel of the area. Limestone peaks surround it from all side, protecting it from the outside world, even from time and civilization it seemed. You with to go there and clear your head from all the stress and nonsense of everyday hustle. You travel 1700 years in the past, learning about their culture and heritage, seeing the pupils singing on the way back from school is just the cherry on the whip cream on the sugary icing of a triple layer chocolate cake.
We stayed at the
hostel Xing Ping, which is more than just a hostel. The staff made us feel at home and just a few steps forward we feasted in a restaurant that simply blends in with the background. You could stay here for hours sipping tea or reading a book in the enchanting sounds of a local melody, admiring the masterful strokes of an artist’s brush across the street, while giving a gentle smile to a surprised girl looking at you in awe. A moment you really should be able to bottle.
I decided to spend an active afternoon. I went climbing, but at that time I hadn’t realized what awaited me. After lunch we went into the heart of nature, crossed the river and continued between many trees and cabins, until we got to a steep rock. I became suspicious. The description did not fit what I was looking at. Seeing the equipment, I was sure, we’re going to go up that rock. I wanted to switch over to the group, that chose an easy hike in the woods. But not for long! We put on our gear and went into the rock. It wasn’t easy, but all my doubts dispersed while making my exciting way up. Just the rock and me – a perfect meditation. The encouragements of others virtually carried me to the top and the view made it worth wile.
In the evening hours we saw traditional fishing with the help of cormorant. We watched a fisherman catch the fish in the Li River in this special manner, where the mind conquered the force of nature. The cormorant are huge birds, who love diving and gathering fish. Humans used this in their advantage for centuries now, by being in a bamboo boat with a hanging light and a woven basket. The fishermen tie the necks of the birds with a string, gently, so they can’t eat the fish – and when the bird surfaces, they take the fish away from it. These birds, however, do get their share in the end, for their efforts of diving for fish after fish after fish as soon as they see them. Modern ways of fishing are being brought in, but the local fishermen still use the diving birds. A nice end of the day, followed only by a resting sleep with the sounds of nature.
