Sea at the Sea

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What is there to do in Shenzhen? The answer is very little. It is not a tourist town. It is a town for business and manufacturing. But the town is built on the ocean, so there are several beaches around its edges.

One day my beautiful girl friend Sea suggested going to the beach at Da Mei Sha. I think that translates to Big Plum Beach. Even though it was in the dead of winter I said OK. Let’s go. Winter in Shenzhen means the temperature is in the 60s, about 17-19 C.

So we hopped on a bus and began the trip. The ride was about and hour and a half. We went through the center of town, then to parts of Shenzhen I had never seen.

Finally we got to the edge of the city. We passed the docks where there were hundreds if not thousands of shipping containers stacked 8 or 10 high in rows of 10 or more deep. It was very impressive to me. If the containers were full there must have been hundreds of millions of dollars worth of freight waiting to go.

Then we got to the beach. It was a small resort area. There were a few hotels, restaurants, and apartment buildings. It was very neat and clean. There were many green areas where plants were well tended.

We got off the bus and walked to the shore. There were a few little drink stands and a few picturing taking vendors, but otherwise the beach was non commercial. It was very wide with fine light colored sand. There were few people there. It must have been too cold. We wore a jackets against the wind.

Here and there were a few brave souls in the water. They appeared to be permanent beach goers. They had great physiques, and they seemed to know the vendors. I dipped my hand in the water. It did not feel unpleasantly cold, but my opinion might have changed if I was forced to dive in.

There were clusters of people walking along the shore, and a few people sitting around drinking beer. But the beach was basically un-crowded.

In the distance I could see a group of several statues. They appeared to be winged men. Slowly we approached them as we walked. It took nearly an hour of slow walking and picture taking to reach them. They grew larger and larger as we approached. They were huge. I would guess they were 70 or 80 feet tall. But what did they represent? Why were they there? Did they represent a visit from aliens? I still don’t know.

Then we walked back to the paved area, away from the ocean. There we stopped for some coconut milk.

Refreshed, we walked back to the bus stop and jumped on a bus that took us further up the road to an amusement area. Being the off season, most things were closed. We walked up and down the street, and into the court yard of some sort of attraction that was closed. We hung around and took pictures.

After a few hours the sun began to go down. We walked to the bus stop and caught the bus for the long ride home.

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