Shenzhen/Hong Kong

At 6:00 a.m. yesterday we left beautiful Hainan Island. We travelled to the airport and took a flight to Shenzhen. It is a city that is part of mainland China and is across the bay from Hong Kong and is cheaper to fly to than Hong Kong.

There was a checkpoint between the airport and Shenzhen. Up until about four years ago it was necessary to have an entry card to get into Shenzhen but we just had to stop at the checkpoint and a soldier came on the bus and stood and smiled for a couple of minutes and then waved us on through. Many of the soldiers look like children in dress up clothes. The one who checked us out looked very young.

We spent the rest of the day in Shenzhen at the Splendid China Miniature Scenic Spot. We went to the Horseback Battle Field and saw a representation of a battle - some very good horses and riders. Some of the other shows we saw were the Tibetan Show, the Uygur Show, a Wa Village Show, an Oriental Dress Show and a Dancing with the Dragon and the Phoenix Show. All the shows were very impressive.

The Tibetan Lamasary

The Uygur Show

The Wa Village Show

However, it was a long day and we were happy to return to a good hotel and spend the night.

This morning we loaded our luggage on a bus and went to the border to exit China. We had to unload our luggage, fill in a form to exit, put our luggage through security and get our passports stamped. Then we loaded all our luggage on the bus and drove five minutes to the entrance of Hong Kong. We unloaded our luggage, filled in an entrance form and went through a long lineup to get into Hong Kong. We are staying at the Salisbury YMCA until late Sunday afternoon. (Not your average Canadian YMCA - a very nice hotel.) This afternoon we found a very good Japanese restaurant and enjoyed our dinner.

This evening we met with the China Teachers group and were instructed on our agenda for the next three days and then we watched a laser show over Victoria Harbour.