Scaredy Cat, Scaredy Cat / Shenzhen, China
With time ticking away, two completed trips to the top of Victoria Peak and several belly fulls of authentic Chinese cruisine (which will remained unnamed as I am not totally sure what it some of it was?)
50 minute subway to Shenzhen SEZ (Special Economic Zone) and the border point at which to enter Mainland China. Almost sounds exciting doesn't it? Think again.
This city that has long been regarded as an ugly, business-oriented and souless kit town. I am not even remotely thinking of arguing with that. What I will say is that I am always up for an adventure and it was here that I first ate chicken feet (a bit chewy, but otherwise not too bad), saw the first McDonald's to open in Mainland China (wow) and received the most sensational massage/haircut, with emphasis on the massage (NO, not THAT kind of massage) that I will probably ever receive over the course of two hours for the paltry sum of $3.
I arrived early in the day and and while marching around the enormous bus/train station was approached by a overly friendly and ambitious Chinese dude (you gotta watch out for those guys since most everyone else I met wanted nothing to do with me). He helped me find the right bus (harder than it sounds since everything is in Chinese and the foreign phrase section of my Lonely Planet just wasn't cuttin' it). I ended up working out a deal with him to show me around for the day in exchange for about $10 which considering all that I got done and that I didn't want to spend the next 8 hours waiting in the station it turned out to be worth it.
Aside from the 3 points I mentioned above there was the market. Ah, yes, I always seem gravitate towards the markets. I don't what it is about things that are both 'nasty' and 'edible'. Might have something to do with my fondness for Fear Factor, but who knows.
He's saying "yes, and here's the mainland's first McDonalds" and I'm saying "So yeah, that's great and all....but could you show me where the dog market is, I wanna see the dog market". He happily oblidged and before I knew it we were traipsing through another festering maze of pungent produce and raw meat of every description (or lack thereof). I've got a pretty strong stomach when it comes to this kind of thing, but this time it was a little different cuz it was pretty hot that day and I was wearing shorts and sandals so with every step I could feel the gentle splattering of whatever it was that made up the indescribable slop on the ground. Not too appealing, but whatever. Sadly as it turns out we were too late; all the dogs and snakes had sold out...hmmmm popular item? Of course there was no shortage of the regular fare like squawking chickens, geese, and squealing pigs, plus a bonus array of pigeons, turtles and even some caged up kitties...yeah it's not just a rumor and no I didn't eat one (that I'm aware of). When it was said and done I got back to the bus on time and was on my way inland to a little place called Yangshou.
50 minute subway to Shenzhen SEZ (Special Economic Zone) and the border point at which to enter Mainland China. Almost sounds exciting doesn't it? Think again.
This city that has long been regarded as an ugly, business-oriented and souless kit town. I am not even remotely thinking of arguing with that. What I will say is that I am always up for an adventure and it was here that I first ate chicken feet (a bit chewy, but otherwise not too bad), saw the first McDonald's to open in Mainland China (wow) and received the most sensational massage/haircut, with emphasis on the massage (NO, not THAT kind of massage) that I will probably ever receive over the course of two hours for the paltry sum of $3.
I arrived early in the day and and while marching around the enormous bus/train station was approached by a overly friendly and ambitious Chinese dude (you gotta watch out for those guys since most everyone else I met wanted nothing to do with me). He helped me find the right bus (harder than it sounds since everything is in Chinese and the foreign phrase section of my Lonely Planet just wasn't cuttin' it). I ended up working out a deal with him to show me around for the day in exchange for about $10 which considering all that I got done and that I didn't want to spend the next 8 hours waiting in the station it turned out to be worth it.
Aside from the 3 points I mentioned above there was the market. Ah, yes, I always seem gravitate towards the markets. I don't what it is about things that are both 'nasty' and 'edible'. Might have something to do with my fondness for Fear Factor, but who knows.
He's saying "yes, and here's the mainland's first McDonalds" and I'm saying "So yeah, that's great and all....but could you show me where the dog market is, I wanna see the dog market". He happily oblidged and before I knew it we were traipsing through another festering maze of pungent produce and raw meat of every description (or lack thereof). I've got a pretty strong stomach when it comes to this kind of thing, but this time it was a little different cuz it was pretty hot that day and I was wearing shorts and sandals so with every step I could feel the gentle splattering of whatever it was that made up the indescribable slop on the ground. Not too appealing, but whatever. Sadly as it turns out we were too late; all the dogs and snakes had sold out...hmmmm popular item? Of course there was no shortage of the regular fare like squawking chickens, geese, and squealing pigs, plus a bonus array of pigeons, turtles and even some caged up kitties...yeah it's not just a rumor and no I didn't eat one (that I'm aware of). When it was said and done I got back to the bus on time and was on my way inland to a little place called Yangshou.
posted by FotoBot at 6:52 AM
1 Comments:
eek! not the kitties!
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