Shenzhen - night train to Guilin

---

In the morning I checked out of the hostel in Hong Kong and went on my way towards the metro station at East Tsim Sha Tsui. The process of getting there, getting a ticket and getting in the train went very easy. An hour from the relaxed departure, I arrived at the station Lo Wu, the China border crossing. The crossing went very easy, although I had to fill in many forms. This time they checked my temperature with some kind of pistol they put on my forehead.

Just behind the border, I could totally see the difference with Hong Kong because there are much more Chinese signs everywhere! And consequently a lot less English signs. To find the place where I could buy the train ticket was also not that difficult. Finding someone to speak enough English to help me was a bigger problem. They almost did not want to help me, but when I said my destination a few times and I made the sleeping gesture, they got the point. They did give me a soft sleeper which is more expensive than a hard sleeper, but I already was happy that I got a ticket anyway.

After having put my backpack in a locker (together with my Lonely Planet) I tried to find something to do in Shenzhen, which is not famous for anything except being a special economic zone at the border with Hong Kong. I had seen some museum in the LP, but because I didn’t take it with me I had to find the way without it. This was a bit of a challenge, with nobody speaking English. In the end, I found one which was closed (on Mondays...). The back-up plan turned out to be a really big shopping mall. I lost my way several times and in the end of the day I was finished with malls for the next coming months. I did eat sushi, which was really funny because of my chopsticks skills...

The night train was very relaxing too. Nice people, a large bed, a train moving steadily.... made me sleep for more than 8 hours! There was even a Western toilet in the train. When I woke up, the other three has left the train without me noticing it. All what was left was a ‘nice meeting you’ note...

The first thing I wanted to see of course was the scenery... and I was already impressed!

---