O Power & OCT Loft

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Holiday weekend and I was spending the last day of it exploring a different part of Shenzhen. We started at O Power, which was built in the 1980s and had been Huazhong power plant. This power plant had been used to light the whole OCT (Overseas Chinese Town) area. Since the power plant has been closed, it has been transformed into an art and culture centre. We spent about half an hour or so looking around the place. I probably wouldn't have chose to visit it myself, so it was nice to see somewhere different. I spent a while wandering around the grounds. The first part I walked around had been transformed into a play park. There weren't many kids around, but there were a few adults chilling on the swing seats. It was really hot and they were nicely in the shade. They were also some rope tunnels that you could go through if you wished. There was also a small lake at the edge of the park that was surrounded by lush green vegetation. I took a stroll along the upper level of the park area. There was some information up there about how the power plant had been transformed into the art and culture centre it is now.

I liked the views of the surrounding area and looking up, too. The sky was a lovely bright shade of blue, there was barely a cloud in the sky and there were quite a few tall blocks of flats jutting out into the sky. I headed over to the back part of O Power. There were what I presumed to be remnants of the power plant big blue metal holders(?) and concrete supports. It was quite interesting to photograph. There was also a funny looking building that had been converted into a take away coffee place. The building looked like a spaceship to me. There was also what looked like a museum/exhibition space, but it was closed. O Power was quite interesting to visit, there wasn't a lot to see or do there, but was worth about half an hour. I just wish there had been more shaded areas to escape from the heat.

We then took a walk for a while to reach the OCT Loft area. We didn't really pass anything of interest on the way, but the tree lined streets shaded us from the sun. Like O Power, OCT Loft had started life as something else. It was previously a factory compound for manufacturing electronics. I think the manufacturing either shut down or moved away and in 2005 the area was transformed and reopened as OCT Loft. I liked the outer edge of the OCT area as it still had it's factory façade and looked a bit gritty with tired paintwork and broken/missing windows. As we ventured further into the area, it became more gentrified looking. Not that that is a bad thing. One street had great lighting and shade from the streets and I wasn't surprised to see friends taking pictures of one another. No doubt they would be uploaded to their WeChat Moments (Chinese instagram/facebook). I had seen some pictures of the OCT Loft area online and there seemed to be quite a few murals painted on the buildings. We were right next to one so I spent some time taking some photos of it. I liked it, but wish there had been some explanation about it as I would have liked to have known who had done it and what it meant.

We spent a couple of hours wandering the streets, taking pictures and having a good look around. I really liked all the greenery that surrounded the buildings. It made it feel nicer and more homely. Some of the low rise apartment buildings reminded me of those in England, which surprised me. There were a few different murals to look and photograph and while I liked them, not of them really blew me away. There were lots of restaurants and cafes, but the area had an underlying feeling of being a bit empty and shabby, like its best days were over. I get this feeling quite often in places I have visited in China, I feel that these places should be vibrant and full of life, but they just seem a bit lacklustre. It's a shame really. The heat was still pretty oppressive and a break in an air conditioned convenience store to grab a cold drink was welcomed.

We wandered up and down the streets some more. I liked the shaded spots that were given cover by the trees. We headed into one of the buildings and it was nice to get some pictures from a little higher up (I think we were only on the first or second floor) and at a different angle. It was also nice to contrast the older, more dishevelled looking buildings of OCT Loft with the shiny new high rises that were being built nearby. I can't say that I really liked the hand holding a heart mural, but it did provoke a reaction in me. As we were leaving, we passed a few delivery drivers flat out on some benches taking their afternoon siesta.

We spent a further hour or so wandering the streets nearby. I enjoyed the walk around a different part of Shenzhen. There were a few trucks going past spraying the streets. I think it is disinfectant that they use. I was a bit surprised that some of the apartment buildings we passed were a bit old and scruffy looking. I always thought that this area would be nice and classy with fancy apartment buildings. We did meet a cute dog, who was chilling with its owner. We finished up in a park, which was pretty busy with families making the most of the last few hours of the long weekend. I was shattered from all the walking we had done, but luckily we weren't too far from a metro station and the journey home wasn't too bad.

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