Hey Missy! and our Luohu fun (Shenzhen, Guangdong)

More than thirty years ago, Shenzhen was just a small fishing village called Bao'an County. In 1979, it was renamed Shenzhen City. When the Special Economic Zone was built, the city was divided into six zones, four of which are located in the Special Economic Zone. 

  Source

Though Hong Kong and Shenzhen are two different gigantic cities, they are just a river apart. So if you are on your Hongkong holiday, enjoy the best of it by taking a side trip to Shenzhen. If you are in Central, or Tsim Sha Tsui, you have to go to Hung Hom station and take the East Rail Line. If you are in Mong Kok you can get onto the East Rail Line at Mong Kok East station or Kowloon Tong depending on which is closer. Travel time is just about 50 mins. more or less depending on the crowd.

The thing is...if you are not a Hong Kong National, you’ll need a visa.

Visa laws are relatively fluid, and also vary based on nationality. So you better gather some readings first and plan your travel and getting a visa ahead of time to avoid any hassles.There are many options for getting a China Visa before heading over to Shenzhen. One is available at the border, the ‘Shenzhen Visa’ sanctioned by the Shengen Treaty which allows some nationalities to visit Shenzhen for 5 days and you can get it in 10 minutes. Just ready your valid passport, complete a visa application form, pay the fee and take a photo.

Most nationalities of the following countries can easily get a visa on arrival in Shenzhen, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, Ireland and Spain. Note that Passport holders of US and France are not eligible for visa on arrival application and even get fined for arrival without a valid Chinese visa. 

Other nationals are hard to get a visa on arrival if they have never been to China. 

In light to this, many travel agents assist with getting a visa or you can apply to direct to the China Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong. If you are under a group travel package, visa processing is usually included in the package and you only need the following requirements:

1. Duly Accomplished Form

2. Two (2) passport-size or 2x2 colored photo with white background

3. Airline E-ticket or itinerary

4. Hotel confirmation or Tour voucher

5. Actual Passport and Photocopy of the front page and emergency contact information page in the applicant's passport

But take note that most travel agency offer hassle-free Group Visa processing with atleast minimum of three party. Otherwise, if it is your first time to China and you are just alone or with a single companion you have to present the following requirements:

SINGLE ENTRY : P2,500 - 4 working days

1.NBI clearance (must be valid for travel abroad)

2. ITR or Certificate of Employment (recent)

3. if employed, please provide copy of SSS/GSIS ID with List of Contributions

4. Latest Bank certificate with O.R. from the bank (At least P100,000)

In our case, after arriving at the lowu border, we've looked and phoned our tour guide first before proceeding to the immigration hall. The tour guide informed us that he has all our travel visa documents and that we can readily proceed to the immigration hall and meet him there waiting at the back of  one of the officers. After handing over the passport, officers usually stamp the visa document only and not your passport. But if you want an additional stamp on your passport, you can ask them politely and they would comply. 

Now we are in the Peoples Republic of China! After exiting the immigration control point, just outside is the Lo Wu Commercial Center awaiting us. That's where we Missy Missy are heading to later for our one of a kind shopping adventure. But for now a Day tour is a must. 

Autumn of Shenzhen from November to early January is advised as the best time to visit. It was a summer of July that time and the weather was overly hot. It was 40 degrees hot that time enough to fry an egg on the streets.

There are not too many special souvenirs for visitors to take home. But don't be disappointed, as Shenzhen will redeem its visitors in other ways. They say almost all goods in China are fake, on the right is the gold ring with jade stone which I've bought in what our tour guide said was a government store. Mine was a gold ring for my mom and my friend bought same design in white gold. 

Jade – a gemstone of unique symbolic energy, and unique in the myths that surround it. With its beauty and wide-ranging expressiveness, jade has held a special attraction for mankind for thousands of years.In the long history of the art and culture of the enormous Chinese empire, jade has always had a very special significance, roughly comparable with that of gold and diamonds in the West. Jade was used not only for the finest objects and cult figures, but also in grave furnishings for high-ranking members of the imperial family. Today, too, this gem is regarded as a symbol of the good, the beautiful and the precious. It embodies the Confucian virtues of wisdom, justice, compassion, modesty and courage, yet it also symbolises the female-erotic. More

While Shenzhen City does not have as many historical attractions as other famous cities in China, it has created a number of excellent theme parks One is the windows of Chhina which present visitors to China's long history and varied cultures, while Window of the World will take you to every corner of the world in one day. This picture was taken outside the Window of the World, the heat was pricking hard our skin and we cannot continue inside and stay longer under the heat. If you are interested, an entrance would cost about 300 HKD.

Each year, more and more people come to Shenzhen to try to find employment. Our tour guide Mr. Liu (the smiling guy) is a Chinese national from Fujian Province who ventured his way to Shenzhen to make a living. 

We all love Chinese Food. But our lunch and the heat made me positively sick that day. Worst, they served Peking Duck, I've always hated the smell of it, even so I made myself forget about it for the meantime, I was hungry anyways. And I swear, I'll never ever eat Peking Duck again. 

These two pictures would make you feel as if you are walking back to the time of Ancient Chinese Dynasty

Now we are in our 'Hey Missy! Come, there is a serious shopping in Luohu to be done' part of Shenzhen Guangdong adventure.

The Yummiest Ice Cream

Having been said that Shenzhen is just next to Hong Kong, separated by Shenzhen River, many locals go to this place to shop as a one-day trip.

Upon entering the complex, we've noticed that it was crowded and dingy. Everyone is allowed to smoke inside which brought a suffocating feeling to us. and on that day, our names changed to Missy!For every vendors would approach you with them sweet voice that goes like What do you want Missy? come come

There are those guys who are running amuck they could bump on you if you are not looking, they are not robbers, they are runners of some shoe stores who has to get the requested shoe size of the customers maybe on some other stores or on their main storage room. But be careful, take care of your possessions, pick pockets are rife, move on bearing alertness with the crowd of other shopaholics.

Gold pair of shoes

FX Hotel

We are in a Green Hotel

Hongkong Dollars is accepted in some stores, but to avoid being lost in frustration, we had our money changed into Renmimbi or Yuan.

If you are a foreigner the first price they offer will usually be extremely over-inflated. Never pay more than 50% of the original price offered and don’t be afraid to haggle. As a trick we walk away if the sales person is not agreeing with our bargain price. The sales person would then shout to us, Hey Missy! I give it to you 50! Do you want it Missy? okay okay I give 40! Some would even follow us, and if we never turned our heads back, it is either you say goodbye to her or she'll finally shout again. 'Okay   Missy, I give (the price you want)'

Iphone case I bought for 35 RMB

Indeed, bargaining in Shenzhen is fun!

One other thing, Pirated commodities will gaze at you in every nook and corner of Luohu.So all that Chanel and Gucci you can see are fake :)

Tired from hours of walking around, we sat down for a little while and were entertained by a scene of an Indian girl scolding her father for the Burberry she badly wants but her dad was not giving her the money.

Dad: Why are you crying?

Daughter: It was an original burberry, I swear! And I just lost it for another 20 dollars more!

Dad: Then why arre you crying?

Daughter: 'Coz I want it so badddd!I want it so bad...that's a Burberry Jacket! (And she bursts out crying)

Dad: Okii, look afvter ar belongings, I'll go bahck

Daughter: I want the Burberry, same size, same color, same design!

That time we were trying our best not to burst out of laughter. It was helluva scene, and I felt the desire to knock that girls head. And shout at her, 'Shut up!Prada...!everything here is FAKE! But ofcourse, I remained silent as her dad was big boned man and could easily knock me off ever I did that to that brat.

Back to our hotel, we stayed in FX Hotel a Green Hotel, “Green” hotels are environmentally friendly properties that take the initiative and implement very important practices and programs to reduce energy, water, and waste. Green Hotels are participating in recycling programs, linen changing programs, installing energy efficient lighting, and getting their message out to their guests and how they are doing their part in protecting the planet.

FX has roooms decorated with unique, trendy and modern designs, subdued with plenty of glass and diffused lighting, yet emphasizing on comfort and practically-each room features wired broadband Internet access.Adjacent to the port, and Business hotel near at hand the railway station of shenzhen. Guests can get a good view of Firmiana platanifolia and East lake while going to the top of the hotel.

The buffet breakfast was not appetizing, I couldn't care less.What mattered most was my room was clean The Duvet was soft and I had a sound sleep and water heater for coffee is available.