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Published: April 19th 2007
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Sydney Opera House
That is definitely one of the first visits I need to make when I go to Australia; I will sit with Marc, Stephanie, Elisabeth and other 4000 spectators to see a big show while admiring those stunning arches and windows. We'll look at the roof to have the impression we're all in heaven, any chance of Shakira performing there? Well, now I'm inviting you to travel virtually, what? haven't you heard this one before? what I mean is that even though I didn't go to all the places you're about to see in the photos below, the fact is, I went to a place where replicas of those famous tourist spots are found.
'Hey Frank, does it mean you saved both money and time while travelling the world?' -that's what you might ask, and then I should reply😊 'Well, not exactly but now I see it as an opportunity to satisfy some of my hunger for journeying and get to know more of our lovely planet. I hope it'll have the same effect on you, that's why I've included some comments that will allow us to revise our geography. (not very deep though :-)'
The name of the park is THE WINDOWS OF THE WORLD, located in Guangdong Province, in Shenzhen to be more precise; yes, Shenzhen, the city where I was supposed to teach... now, thanks to the director of the programme, I was transferred to Zhuhai, where I'm happily teaching at the moment. Cheers, Bill.
In this
la tour Eiffel
Built by Gustave Eiffel for the centenary of the French Revolution in 1889, the very tall tower(320.75 m,7000 tons) has been selected as one of the finalists for the seven new wonders of the world competition. I'm wondering what would those French writers -who opposed its construction- will say now?
bustling city, which I'm not going to describe as some of my memories there are not that spectacular, a theme park displays the best worldwide spots we all dream of; therefore, thanks to this very humble photographer, we will be travelling to London, Paris, Egypt, New York, etc. without even visiting those places; yeah, it sounds like Phoebe in Friends, the American sitcom: in one of the episodes, she says to Joey: 'If you want to learn how to play a guitar, never touch one'. But there she is, so funny, I love her, she's so cool. So, I'll say the same to you, we're travelling without leaving home.
Anyway, isn't counterfeiting that nice? sorry, let me mull this over...
Isn't art and technology nice? I firmly believe that the modern world we're living in...bla bla bla...bla (that was me thinking aloud). Sorry for these silly comments, I told you, I've been correcting too many essays and I can't get over it. The theme park showing around 130 scenic spots is quite huge, 480,000 sqm and is divided into different sections displaying the most remarkable landmarks of the 5 continents. But there is more, this is
Looking like Holand
Does it ring a bell, it just made me think of this lovely European country and its picturesque little houses. That's the outside, by the way, not in the park itself. the place where your childish dreams come true as you can actuallly walk from one city, country or continent to the other or go from a dangerous volcano to a lovely desert in just 4 minutes.
After the visit, you can attend a very entertaining show at the World Square, which is a huge open space sitting around 10,000 people. There programs showing the culture of the different scenic spots can be seen, it is really outstanding. And if you miss Disneyland, you can stick around as there is a parade in the evening, what else can you ask for? seriously, if it is entertaining what you are looking for, come on, this place has it!
Maya spotted a Chinese girl wearing a flashy yellow T-shirt with loads of sex related swear words; my God, although we laughed lots as it was histerically funny, we couldn't help feeling a bit sympathetic about the girl. I don't think she knows much about swearing in English; I must watch out for I don't want to walk on the streets sending wrong messages to the whole population of Zhuhai.
The only pitfall
The Pyramids
The only existing of the seven wonders of the world. It seems that this future residence of the pharaons took 20 years and 2 million blocks of stones to be built. Amazing, isn't it? incidentally, let's see if you've been revising what's the name of the Colombian sculptor who made his own version of a fat sphinx?...well done. of the travel was some of the gifts I bought to take back home, in fact, they were quite expensive compared to the prices you can find outside the park, but you just need to be Frank to get excited and become a greedy shopper in the wrong place. A piece of advice if you go there, just go window shopping, it's much safer. Though you may ask Maya, to be honest, it was not that bad, really, now that I recall, I only purchased a couple of things, so no worries.
Last but not least, I did not travel solo, in fact, the university organised a weekend for all the teachers there, and though for some of you it might be a bit tacky, this trip was fabulous; as I said, it somehow increased my desire to travel around the world and I highly enjoyed the dances in the night's show.
Now, without any further ado, come with me and see our precious world in miniature, I hope you'll enjoy the travel.
The journey from Zhuhai to Shenzhen takes only two hours; before we set off, let me tell
The tower from the outside
My parents loved the Eiffel Tower so much when they visited that my mum makes me buy her dozens of tiny towers to give away to her acquaintances; even worse now, as she found out that they are made in China; when on the phone, her customary 'I love you' farewell greeting has now changed to: 'don't forget las torrecitas'. Give me a break, mum! you a very short story...
ONCE UPON A TIME, about some 13 years ago, two small sister cities: Shenzhen and Zhuhai -which now seem to be so agitated and busy- were only a couple of gloomy fishing villages; yeah, very quiet and poor; yet, as the story goes, a lovely fairy godmother called Maya Maria transformed them into a bunch of Baticities -as Batman would say- that's true, my friends, with only a slight movement of her magic stick, the fairy brought to the city numerous high-rise buildings (specially in Shenzhen), big companies appeared from nowhere, nice buses, undergrounds, wide avenues, lots of shops and restaurants, even a Mac Donalds, can you believe it?.
The sisters were obviously very pleased to undergo all those metabolic changes, which they thought would match their cousin Hong Kong, they suddenly looked much bigger and became the admiration of the whole country. Then there was this ball and both Shenzherella and SnowZhuhai were actually able to dress up, no more sixes and sevens or eights and nines, no, they were there wearing fascinating flashy dresses and their dream came true: they were actually able to meet
King Kong, their favourite prince, and obviously live happily ever after.
What a mess! told ya, my sense of humour is still there, lucky you!!! hahaha.
Sorry, no, that's not what happened...not really, but you should agree that the former story gives my blog a sense of a fairytale and soap opera which will attract lots of readers, that's how Disney started, right?... I hope Spielberg is there actually reading my blog, just in case: 'Steve, I think this is the right time for me to stop teaching and become a screenwriter, I feel it'.
The government, obviously, were behind all those changes, they aimed at having an equivalent of Hong Kong in China; thus they decided to invite investment from different companies right here; and it was all like moving a magic stick for the changes were amazing; I told ya, these Chinese people as perseverant as they are, can turn fishing towns into especial economic zones.
Well, Now you have the background of both cities, you can see that they are extremely important to China now.
Shenzhen with
The aborigines performing
Not as genuine as I was, I must say... 7 million inhabitants is very renowned for its futuristic architecture, I was not joking when I called it a Baticity, in fact, that was the impression I had when we first visited the city; that was back in 2005, we arrived at night and then I was surrounded by these huge buildings which would be the ideal setting for a Batman film. Steven, I also see myself in a love story with Julia Roberts here. Please make the contacts asap.
Zhuhai, not as populated as Shenzhen (1.2 million inhabitants) is deservedly regarded as the cleanest city in China, lucky us, a very green city, indeed, ideal for working and enjoying China.
I remember back in France when I learned I was going to work in Zhuhai, I came across a Chinese couple at La Croix Rousse, and shy as I am, I asked how big the city was; and I should quote them for you: 'well, it's a small city, just like Lyon' and I went like: what? small as Lyon which is supposed to be the second largest city in France? well, I agree now with those of you who think
Mount Fuji
Japanese most recognizable sign does not look that high like this, does it? in fact those 3776 metres wouldn't even trigger a vertigo attack on me. Thus, everything is relative, even height. size is important and something else: stereotypes are true, we definitely do not have the same values.
But anyway, as I stated above, I quite enjoyed the attractions, in the evening we had two very interesting shows, one was full of colourful dances and even sport demostrations; I was quite impressed by both the perfection of their movements and the abilities of those basketball players, I recorded them but I have been having trouble trying to include those videos in my blog; therefore, you just have to imagine the movements, sorry. Picture me and Zhao Min playing in the same team.
I really need that fairy godmother to make my two dreams come true.
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dawninshenzhen
Dawn Byers
Great!
Frank, thanks for telling the world how wonderful Shenzhen is! :) Another wonderful blog. But, I just put 3 up today, so I win! ;)