Our apologies for not letting you know in advance, but we took our first trip outside of Beijing last week. Hence, no blog entries have been added since then. We were invited by Rob and Anne Johnson to visit them near Shenzhen. Just to let you know who these people are, Anne was Adán's high school senior English teacher and knows both the De La Paz and Reynoso families. Also, Rob has worked in the Caldwell School District and knows Adán's father well. I guess all this happens when we live in Idaho!Anyways, Rob, Anne, and their daughter Courtney teach at an international school in Shekou district. It is right outside Shenzhen and it is a prime location. A student once told us that China was a country that could offer you anything you wanted. He said if you like snow there is snow, and if you like tropical beaches, there are beaches, and there's everything in between as well. He knew what he was talking about as we went from the dry and mild temperatures of Beijing to very humid and tropical-like weather of a town right on the beach in south China! In fact, Shekou is located off of the Shenzhen Bay, a short 45 minute ferry to Hong Kong!
Since Shenzhen is over 1,200 miles away from Beijing, we decided to fly there. We had a great student help us find reasonably priced tickets through a travel agent. It's a lot different here to see how travel tickets (plane, train, bus) are purchased. Most people work with hotels and they act almost like agents and can negotiate and book. This is what our student Gia did for us. She located two tickets with Air China. That meant all we needed to do was rearrange our schedules so we could travel. This was not difficult for our classes can be flexible from time to time.
We thought about traveling for the International May Holiday (three day Labor Day type of festival) but learned that millions upon millions of Chinese are flocking to tourist destinations during this time. This was not something we wanted to be involved with so we pushed up our vacation one week. It was a good move on our part as we enjoyed roads and airports that were busy but not inundated with people.
Our flight to Shenzhen had us departing from the new "Terminal 3" that Beijing recently opened, mainly for the Olympics. The size of this building is unreal. It makes the Boise airport look like a subway station. However, because it is so large it is not very easy to maneuver around here. It took us some time to check in and then even longer to go through security checks. The whole time we kept thinking, "Imagine this place on the holidays." About four hours later we landed at Shenzhen International Airport. It was so evident to feel the mugginess of this new environment. We started to take off layers of clothing. After taking a one hour taxi ride from the airport to Shekou, we arrived to Anne and Rob waiting for us outside of their school. Just one building over we entered into their comfortable apartment complex and put down our bags. Then being the great hosts that they are, we were taken to a neat little pub to have a drink and catch up.
It was great to visit with them. We both exchanged stories about our experiences living and teaching abroad. Since they have been in China for 2 years they had more to share but it was fun nonetheless. After we finished up here, they took us on a tour of their neighborhood. As we said their school is literally one minute away and they have two amazing Western stores in between work and home. These businesses have more American products than we have seen in a four mile radius of our school (of course near the U.S. embassy there is an immense amount there but it is a distance from our school). We also walked by the ferry station that we would be taking later in the week to go to Hong Kong. Since it was late, and the Johnsons had to be at work in the morning we headed back to bed.
Exploring Shekou
Since it was a work week for the Johnsons, we decided to go out and see the sights of Shekou on our own. They gave us a list of places to see and buses to take for our day. Pazi really wanted to do some shopping so we headed down to a commercial district where what else--Wal-Mart, anchored this hub. We had lunch in a nice upscale shopping mall and then hit the shops. We prefer the smaller "mom and pops" shops so we find a block that was nothing but these stores. We spent the next several hours exploring landmarks and buying some shoes for Pazi. She was actually able to find some steals, we are talking 30 yuan (4 dollars and change) for quality shoes. She was proud of herself!
We had agreed to meet back up with Rob and Anne after work so we decided to head back and from there we would decide on dinner plans. They really wanted to take us to this restaurant called "Gypsy's" so we agreed. It was located at "Sea World" in a newer plaza just a five minute walk from their apartment. Unfortunately, there was no Shamu at this place. It was a shopping and dining hub located around a grounded luxury yacht called the Minghua . This large boat with 9 decks weighs over 14,000 tons. Inside it are restaurants and a nice hotel according to the Johnsons.We must say that the food at "Gypsy's" was very good. It cost much more than what we are used to in Beijing but it was quality food. We had the fish and chips platter and it was very good cod with seasoned steak fries. Anne and Rob ordered a Thai Beef Salad that looked just as good as our dish. The portions were so big that each couple only needed to order one dish! At dinner we talked more about life in China and the incredible trips to other part of China, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Australia they had been on.
As we headed back to the apartment, Rob suggested that we go up to Nanshan mountain and see the amazing views from up above. He said that a nice little government-run park existed at the base of the mountain and was well maintained. Anne said it was an incredible area but that we needed to expect some serious hiking. We liked what we heard and planned on it for the next day. They also invited us to their international school's musical Grease. We jumped on the offer as we imagined English language learners doing their best John Travolta impressions.
Just when we thought we were off to get some shut eye, the Johnsons decided to take a detour. They took us to get foot massages! Pazi and I were very reluctant to do this but they persisted until finally we gave in. They told us how we could not leave China with out a famous foot massage. To make a long story short, we paid 35 yuan ($5 bucks) to get a one hour massage that included the neck, shoulders, legs, and feet! It was a new experience to say the least!
Tackling Nanshan
We got up early the next day and decided to have a good sit down breakfast at a spot that Rob and Anne suggested. It was called "SPR." It was a small cafe-like hangout that had a decent menu of Western food. Pazi decided she wanted a sandwich so she ordered their version of an Italian Club, and Adán got a Hawaiian pizza. We thought the sandwich was so-so, but the pizza was actually really good. It was very cheesy (which is not common in China) and the sauce was great. The only complaint would be that the Chinese use a Spam-like ham instead of Canadian Bacon. If it had this it would have been dynamite.
Once we finished up at "SPR" it was off to Nanshan. The trek to get there was about fifteen minutes tops. It was somewhat hidden. Very little signage and we had to stray off just as Rob suggested to see the park entrance. After entering the main gate it was an uphill descend for the rest of our visit. We climbed a spiral trail paved for vehicles to go in and out of the facility. Ultimately it lead us to a snack bar located next to Nanshan's steps.
Rob and Anne told us that Nanshan was about a thousand steps high. The park actually has concrete, man-made steps with numbers on them to remind you of your location. Every so often their is a rest area with either a beautiful scenic view or a Chinese pavilion. It took us some time (especially with humidity well over 80%) but we reached the peak of Nanshan! Although the day was a little foggy, check out the photo from the top.After making our way down, we stopped at a few shops and then made our way back to meet Anne. She said she wanted us to go with her "somewhere." We made it back to the apartment and caught Rob as he was leaving on a bike ride. He says that at least four times a week he goes out and rides along the bay seeing the ocean and Chinese businesses. He said he gets a real kick out of it. Just as he exited, Anne was getting home from work. We dropped off a few of our things and off we went. She took us to the barbershop/salon. There we got the royal treatment of a head massage and hair shampoo that lasted 30 minutes! We could not believe the amount of services they offered. They asked if we wanted haircuts but we declined. The ladies got their hair blow dried and straightened as well!
From here we were off to the Grease production. The event was a blast. The students from Korea, Hong Kong, Israel, Brazil, U.S. and several other areas put on a wonderful show. You could tell that many of them worked extremely hard to perform in front of a large audience. Many of them were not native English speakers so it was very impressive to see how they did allow this to be an obstacle they could not overcome. With the help of teachers, the students managed every aspect of the musical from staging and lighting to costume and makeup. It was a fun-filled evening for us.Part two of this blog will talk about our two days in Hong Kong! Look for it soon...
