The first day and night in Shenzhen

After eleven hours of not so bad flight we arrived in Hong Kong airport right on time.IT tCustoms did not pay any attention to us and we walked right through to our luggage.
It struck me that everything is super-clean in the airport and also walking towards the buses everything is spick and span. Everywhere you see people cleaning the trashes and the floors and if you smoke in the wrong place, fines go up to 5000 Hong Kong dollars, about 500 euros! We get hooked by a girl who sells us a ticket for the bus to Shenzhen, 10 euros per person. The buses are new Scania's with leather seats, better than the public transportation back home. The trip itself to Shenzhen is quite uneventful, we see mountains, huge bridges and apartment buildings on the shores of what looks like a harbour where nothing is going on. No people either on or near the road. It reminds me in a weird way of the ski-ing trips we used to take in the south of Germany and the beginning of the Alps and also of place in Greece for the junk next to the road and the sea and beaches.
After our one hour driving through this empty country we arrive first at the Hong Kong - China customs and then at the Chinese customs. We're checked very briefly and they let us pass through without checking any of our luggage. So much for security against terrorism!
In Shenzhen it looks more human to me, reminiscent of Romania; a lot of people, a bit dirty, but very alive. We find a cab and drive to Yue's family house. The traffic is terrible, although the road is not even full! I'm glad I've decided not to drive here, because it's a hit-and-miss all the time. I wonder how many accidents happen on a daily basis. We arrive at the gate of the little centre where the apartment is. In some way this is a getto for the rich. They seal everything off with watchguards and fences so people inside don't have to do that themselves anymore. When we go out at night after sleeping for 5 hours and two meals later, I see why they lock everything up so well. Outside this getto-for-the-rich, people have fences in front of their windows, no matter if they live on the first or on the tenth floor! We decide to have a coffee (real!) and end up at a nice coffee lounge with no lights and coffee (30 yuan) more expensive than beer (25 yuan). Yue thinks we need to have our hair washed and we find the place that is recommended by Jessie, Yue's sister-in-law, who we met earlier that day. I really have to start thinking in a different way, because here it's quite normal to go out and have your hair washed at midnight! The guy who washes my hair almost scratches the skin from my skull but after telling him it can be more gentle it's quite a nice experience. Included in the price is a massage, which i feel way to tense for with the jetlag. For some reason, the whole thing only costs 15 yuan per person, 1.5 euros, about half a cup of coffee! When we arrive home, everybody has gone to bed and i slip off into a coma.
Next morning we wake up early, around 7. After taking a shower in a sort of improvised bathroom, I go out to take some picures of the surrounding and do some small shopping of which you can see the pictures. The rest of the day we will spend shopping for tailored clothes and tomorrow we'll fly to Shanghai.

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