Dongmen Pedestrian Street

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Dongmen Pedestrian Street wouldn't be my usual pick of place to go. Maybe if I was visiting a new town or city and had an hour to kill, but shopping streets don't really do it for me and there is a long list of places I would have preferred to visit in Shenzhen. But when I saw that there was a Worldwide photowalk happening there, I decided to sign up as it would be something different and not somewhere I would venture off my own bat. I had a little time to kill before the photowalk started, so I had a bit of a look around, walking up and down a couple of streets. It was hot, loud and bright, definitely a bit of an assault on the senses. I headed over to the meeting point and got acquainted with some of the others there. It was quite a big group of people, around 20-25.

First, we headed down to (what I think was) the main pedestrian street. Since it was raining, there weren't too many people about, but there were plenty of umbrellas. The street was pretty meh, it was just a shopping street with lots of nice looking stores, not my cup of tea. We headed over to the entrance of Dongmen Food Street, which had a cute panda on the sign above it. I quite enjoyed the walk through the food street. There were a lot of different stalls with a variety of different foods on offer. From here, the group split into two smaller groups. I headed off with one group across to some kind of mall/entertainment arcade. We headed upstairs on the outside of the building to get some pictures of the surroundings. I liked the contrast in the area, as the mall building looked pretty new, then there were some older residential buildings with some very modern skyscrapers in the background. Also there were quite a few delivery drivers driving along the road under the red lanterns that were strung up across the street, another good mix of traditional and modern. Inside the mall, there was a small arcade, which we had a quick walk around. There was some kind of café/seating area, which was traditional Chinese style, that was a nice area. There were some old style propaganda posters on the walls, birdcages hanging from the ceiling and an old bike and gayageum (I always use the Korean words for this instrument). There was also some what looked like container style walls, that were covered in bright looking graffiti. It wasn't really graffiti but signs for the places we were in. We also passed a go kart track and some kind of assault course.

Back outside, we were on another elevated walkway. In both directions, I could see many skyscrapers. There was also a lot of construction work going on on one side at ground level, I don't know what they were working on, but I'm going to take a punt at another subway line as Shenzhen's subway system is always expanding. There was also a raised train line and I watched a green sleeper train go past. The rain had disappeared and the sky was a lovely blue colour with a few clouds in it. I spent ages trying to get photos of the raindrops on the ledges. I was pretty pleased with how they turned out. We walked along to another area. Here, there were some giant white fluffy clouds that looked like they were going to swallow the apartment buildings in front of them. This area seemed a little older as the apartment buildings looked a bit scruffy. From here, we headed back to the main pedestrian street and took a walk around some of the small alleyways attached to it. I much preferred the alleyways to the main street as they were much more interesting. There were lots of small eateries and shops. We then made our way back to where we had started.

After the photowalk was over, the organiser said that there was another place close by that was a popular spot for taking photos, so some of us headed over there. Wenheyou is a dining complex with some stores, too. The outside of the building is decorated with the signs of the restaurants and stores that are housed within the complex. It looks a bit old and grungy, and I didn't know what to expect going inside. I think it is meant to replicate Hong Kong in years gone by. There are about three or four floors, I can't remember exactly. The ground floor had dining places lining the edges with tables in the middle. Since it was around dinnertime, there were quite a lot of people eating. It was pretty dark inside. I did like the vibe of the place. Looking up, there were quite a few neon signs and what looked like the outside of blocks of flats. There was also a giant shell hanging from one of the walls. It was a bit random and I wondered if it had been used to advertise one of the restaurants or was there just because.

I headed up the stairs and took some photos looking down on the food court below. I also took some photos of the interior walls that looked like the outside of several blocks of flats complete with laundry filled balconies, plants and washing machines. Up on the higher floors, there was a real mix of things. There were some restaurants that looked completely dead, and kind of food court seating area. There were also a few shops that I didn't go in, and a pub that appeared to be closed. What I really liked about these floors was the little rooms that were done out like small shops or rooms of a house. I loved looking at all the little knick-knacks that were on display. There were lots of things on display that are no longer used today such as cassette tapes, old square boxy TVs, and a ghetto blaster. On the top floor you could go outside, so I took a look out. It had started raining again so I only took a quick peek, there wasn't really much to see. The next part of the building that I looked around was outside inside. It was the outside of a lot of buildings that you couldn't go inside, it felt a bit like being on a movie set. I took a look around the last few rooms and then headed out. It was a nice way to spend a few hours.

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Comments

[RENanDREW]

Photowalk
What a great way to get to know an area that you wouldn't otherwise have gone to. I agree with you - in a lot of cases the alleys are much more interesting than the main streets :)

[Zephyr]

Photowalk
Thanks for reading. It's something I will now look out for in other cities I travel to.