Blogs from China, Asia - page 5

Exploring another area of Shenzhen. Baoan is pretty far from where I live but new subway lines have made it more accessible and slashed travel times. We started at Baoan Farmers Trade Wholesale Market (that's the translation of the name, which is why it sounds a little strange). The market was really big, bigger than I imagined it would be. We started in the outer ring, which was filled with shops selling dry good such as rice, spices, cured meats and fruits and veggies. Since it was the afternoon, it was pretty quiet. Because the market is in Shenzhen, it's a bit more high tech as each vendor had a tv screen outside their store that displays what I think was their prices. After walking the outer ring, we headed into the centre of the market ... read more

I took the subway to Chiwan again, this time to make my way to Chiwan left Fort Park. It's pretty close to Wen Tianxiang Memorial Park, which I went to a few days previously. If I had know, I probably should have visited them together, but never mind. It was about a twenty minute walk to the park. My map app directed me up the stairs I had seen on my previous visit and then it was pretty much just go in a straight line. I think the route skirted the edge of the other park. I was quite surprised that there was no actual path, so I had to walk on the road and the well trodden path on the grass. The road was quite apart from the odd few lorries coming along it. If ... read more

I headed to Wen Tianxiang Memorial Park, which is located in Chiwan. It wasn't too far of a walk from the subway station, about ten to fifteen minutes. I actually missed the entrance to the park the first time as there was a gate across it and some guards sitting at a table, so I thought it was some kind of private business. The park is dedicated to Wen Tianxiang, who was a poet and politician during the late Southern Song Dynasty in the thirteenth century. He is best known as a patriot and martyr for his resistance to Kublai Khan's invasion of the Southern Song Dynasty and for being captured and tortured for refusing to yield to the Yuan Dynasty. I had seen some pictures of the park online and it looked quite nice and ... read more

Today I was heading to Huouhai. This is the place that I had originally wanted to stay, but the place I had wanted to stay had sold out by the time I got round to booking it and the other places I looked at were more expensive and not as nice looking as the hotel I am staying in now. After a leisurely breakfast, I headed out to the bus stop. It was bit of a chew on to get to Houhai and involved changing buses. The first bus was really quiet with only a few passengers and we drove through some small villages. I got off in what felt like the middle of nowhere and headed over the road to the where I would catch the other bus from. You know that a place isn't ... read more

I woke up early due to being able to hear the person in the next room's phone vibrating. I hate it when someone else's phone wakes me up but they continue to sleep through it. I ordered some breakfast to be delivered. Since I had really enjoyed the porridge place I ordered from there again. I even ordered the same thing as I'd enjoyed it so much - porridge with pork and century eggs, youtiao and soy milk. I was stuffed afterwards. I had decided to visit Haitang Bay today so took the bus there. The bus journey was uneventful and pretty quiet. I was the only person that got off at the stop for the beach and I did wonder where the other tourists were going. I walked across Haitang Plaza. There were quite a ... read more