Shenzhen, China

This week I spent the week in Shenzhen China  (Just over the border with Hong Kong) with my hubby who had to be there for a conference.  We stayed at the Westin Hotel which was a fabulous hotel.  The food, service, staff and the room was fantastic.  It was great meeting some of  the people my husband works with.

During the day I found there is not really much in Shenzhen other than amusement parks (I'm too old) and shopping.  For those that know me you will know that I am probably the world's worst shopper. (other than fabric shops)  One of the days I took the Metro to Luo Hu.  The metro is great and runs very similar to Singapore.  I went to a place which sells knock off handbags/purses and electronics.  It was NOT fun!  How all that pushy, in your face, follow you everywhere tactic is supposed to entice you to buy anything is completely beyond me.  I lasted only 5 minutes before running to the nearest exit and telling the guy following me to get lost!
I took a few moments to compose myself and take a deep breath then went in again (on a different floor).  Hmm not much better although I did manage to buy myself a new purse before exiting and seeking solace in the local Mcdonalds!  Second visit lasted 15 minutes.  Aaargh I dislike shopping!

The last day I went to check out a local market street  (on advice from the chef at the hotel) and could walk around freely and unaccosted and managed to take some photos.

This part of Shenzhen was far more interesting.

visit to the Great Wall of China

This last week my hubby and I were in Beijing for a couple of days for his work conference. This was my first time to China so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. We arrived late Sunday evening to a very busy but hot Beijing. The next morning was very grey and you could hardly see the buildings two blocks away. After lunch we made our way to "The Commune" which was about an hours drive out of Beijing. We could see the great wall of china and it seemed to be never ending.

The Commune is in a rural area set on quite a steep hillside. They are all achitecturally designed houses in various shapes. At the bottom of the hill was a walkway up to the Great Wall. It was steep and muddy and I wasnt sure if I was going to make it. Well we did, and it was well worth the climb!
This part of the wall has not been restored and was very overgrown which really made the feeling of standing on top of it with no-one else around.... Exhilarating! On Monday night they held a chinese banquet with entertainment.....Chinese opera singers (Not hubby's favourite thing!) guys in tutus (very funny) and lots of speeches in Chinese. During the day, I worked on my digital scrapbook while my hubby was at the conference. On Tuesday afternoon we went back to Beijing.

On Wednesday we spent the day sightseeing. We went to the Forbidden City. It was HOT and VERY BUSY! There was lots to see and it was HUGE!

On Wednesday evening, Wim had arranged some tickets to the Chinese Opera (which I had been researching). Here we got to see the actors putting on their very colourful makeup before the show. Chinese opera is very different to our opera particularly when the ladies are singing! (very high pitched!) It wasn't a full opera but small samples of two operas. I really enjoyed the costumes, makeup and the skill involved in chinese opera. In the second part of the show it included the "Monkey King". This was very acrobatic and the fighting skills of these actors was amazing!

It was an amazing week and it was lovely to spend some quality time with Wim.

Till next time