Sometimes when your original plans go awry, you can find something unexpectedly and equally rewarding. A little background: Shenzhen is just across Hong Kong’s northern border into the Mainland, this city became China’s first Special Economic Zone in 1980- high-rise apartment buildings and office buildings sprang up, making it one of the richest Chinese cities in only a few years. I came here last in 2007 during a family trip and the plan was to visit the beaches and landmarks, take in Shenzhen’s urban scene, and relax in a nice hotel room for 5 days. That time, I didn’t plan on getting sick from the heat and becoming bed-ridden for 4 out of the 5 days
This time around, a friend and I wanted to visit Shenzhen’s Window to the World - an Epcot-style theme park that I had missed out on in 2007 (title picture). It was the rain that washed out our plans on that day. So we took a walk around the city to see what else we could find. The first would be the Shenzhen Civic Center; it has a very unique design, see picture below:
The second was that I found Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts here, at the Shenzhen Book City. In the Foreign Bookstore (The Book City was divided into many smaller shops pertaining to certain fields, this was the only bookstore with books in English), I advised my friend to buy To Kill A Mockingbird, a classic with easy enough language to help him sharpen his English skills - he bought The Alchemist on my recommendation too. I bought Pride and Prejudice for my mom, a Jane Austen reader; and Yao: A Life in Two Worlds for my dad, an avid Houston Rockets supporter. Maybe for me visiting Shenzhen’s big tourist attractions, the third time would be the charm…
Album Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jasonylu89/ShenzhenRevisited?feat=directlink
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