Shenzhen Bay Park

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Shenzhen Bay Park has its own metro station so is very easy to get to. I had been in the area before, but since the weather that day had been pretty bad, I'd skipped having a look around the park. Since the weather was better today, I decided to stretch my legs with a nice walk in the park. When I came out of the metro station it was quite busy with people having a look at the view and deciding where they wanted to go. The park stretches for 13 kilometres, I though it was 16km, and is a popular spot for walking and cycling. There was some stuff to the north, but since that wouldn't have been much of a walk and I didn't want to retrace my steps. I headed south. I had definitely picked a good day for it as the sky was blue and clear. It had been a little chilly earlier, but it was warming up nicely. Looking across the bay, I could see Hong Kong in the distance. It's a little strange to be so close to somewhere I've been before and would love to go back to, yet have no chance of visiting due to Covid restrictions. One day, one day...

I could also see Shenzhen's business districts, which with all the skyscrapers looked very modern. It was a total contrast to the part of Hong Kong that I could see across the bay, as it looked more rural and mountainous with a few high rise buildings concentrated in one area. I should remember that this part of Hong Kong is far from the downtown areas that I am used to exploring. I walked for a couple of km along the path. It was nice and wide with tropical looking trees, although they didn't provide much shade. I was surprised that there wasn't more people about as it was the weekend and the new year holiday was about to start. I came across a sign that likened the people of Shenzhen to migratory birds, which I think is a great analogy as Shenzhen is a relatively 'new' city and the influx of people from across China has been huge over the years. I had great views in all directions as I walked, ahead of me I could see the skyscrapers of the Nanshan district, the skyscrapers of Futian district behind me and across the bay to Hong Kong. I also came across some birds hanging out on the rocks in the water waiting to catch some fish. I really like the greenery and nature of the city.

In the distance I could see the Shenzhen Bay Bridge, which links Shenzhen to Hong Kong. I decided that I would walk to the bridge. It would take a while as the walk was about 8 kilometres away. The shoreline here is pretty rocky, so I stuck to the path. I did come a cross a few people walking in the rocks. Every so often, there were boardwalks going out a little further above the water. These were quite busy and there were signs telling you about the birds and area. There wasn't much greenery by the water. There were a few odd trees that looked a bit spindly dotted about, but on the other side of the path, there were lots of trees. It looked really lush. Also, quite a few of the trees had lovely red flowers on them. I'm going to have to look up what they are called. I kept looking forwards to the approaching skyline of Nanshan and back at the retreating views of Futian. I also came across a sign that warned about people smuggling in the area and maintaining border tranquillity. It made me wonder about the people smuggling and how people used to swim across to Hong Kong in the past.

I continued on and passed some ducks that were swimming in formation in the bay. The park is divided into sections, but they didn't really make any sense to me. I came to a nice spot, where the trees were filled with red lanterns. I presume that they were there to celebrate the upcoming new year, but I think they looked so pretty that I hoped they would be there all year. Also the rocks lining the bay were breaking up a bit and I could see some patches of sand. As I turned to head south along the bay, the landscape changed. I walked along a bridge that connected the park and the rocky bay area was gone replaced with lots of trees and bushes growing in the water. There were also some residential looking areas with large blocks of flats. The next part of the park, felt a bit more like a traditional park to me, with a wide path surrounded by trees and greenery and hills and fields with paths running across them. It was pretty warm now and the sun was shining, so I found an empty bench in the shade to take a rest on. While I was there, two older women came over and sat near me taking some pictures. I don't know if I featured in the photos but since I had my nose in a book, if the aim was to get me in the pics, they wouldn't have been that good.

I came across a monument for the Universiade, which I had no idea about. The monument was pretty cool and l liked that it looked a bit imposing. It had all the dates and locations of the previous Universiades on it. Later, I googled what the Universiade was all about, but the Wikipedia explanation didn't really make much sense to me. I think it is some sot of sports event (like the Olympics or Asian Games), but for university students. I think the big building across the road behind it was a sports stadium. I hadn't seen the water for a whirl, but my view changed as the bay once again came into view. This part felt really natural as it was less manicured that the parts of the park I had previously walked through. I watched the birds for a bit as they were hunting for some food. It was also a real contrast to the tall buildings that were on the other side of the park. Further on, I came across some grassy areas that would be great places to chill and hang out with friends and family on. They were really quiet, but I can imagine them getting really busy in better weather. There was also an area covered with purple flowers and little wooden flowery windmilly things that looked pretty cute. As I was getting closer to the bridge I could see the high rise apartment buildings of Hong Kong slightly better. Also I now got great views back across the bay to Futian district. I was surprised at the amount of construction I could see going on, I really shouldn't be as where ever I go in China, there is building work going on.

The next section of the park was probably the busiest part I'd been in since the start back by the subway station. There were lots of people walking and cycling along the path and looking at the views from the viewing platforms that jutted out into the sea. There was also what almost looked like a proper beach here and it was nice to see families playing in the sand. I was quite surprised as I when I got closer to the bridge there was a pretty long viewing platform that headed out into the bay. I was excited to have a walk along it. If only it could reach all the way to Hong Kong, that would be pretty cool! The views from the bridge/platform thing were pretty good. I liked that I was so close to the bridge that I could see the traffic coming and going across. Since the border is pretty much closed, I was surprised at the amount of traffic going across, I even saw an ambulance. I also liked the views of Shenzhen, watching airplanes coming in to land at the airport and the clouds were making a great pattern in the sky. There were a few people fishing on the platform and there was even a bloke renting out equipment. Now that my walk was complete, it was time to head home. Choosing to finish my walk here probably wasn't the best ideas, as it was another couple of kilometres to the nearest metro station. I could have followed the path around through the final bit of the park, but I was knackered and over it by this point and I just wanted to take the quickest route to the subway station.

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