Day 9 - Shenzhen: Mini, Modern China

Our day began as we all loaded into the bus at 5:30 am so that we could get to the airport for our 8:15 flight from Xi'an to Shenzhen. We were given breakfast in a bag, which included a bag of milk, fruit, a sandwich, bread, and a full cucumber. All of us, half asleep, eventually made it to the airport and were ready for take off. We boarded the plane, and with the hum of a Chinese song playing on the loud speaker, we found our seats. Yet, as we were sitting in our seats ready to leave, we learned that our flight was being delayed and that we would have to sit on the plane for another hour before take off. So we sat. Some of us slept, some watched the movies on the airplane, and others listened to music. Eventually, the go ahead was given and we were off to Shenzhen. The plane ride, about 2.5 hours, consisted of me watching movies and sleeping. In between those two activities, the flight attendants passed out a meal of either rice or noodles, along with a drink. I have to admit, I was a little surprised to see that we would be given a full meal when our flight was as short as it was because in America they may not even give you a snack for that length of a flight. Soon enough, however, we were in Shenzhen. All of us were antsy to get off the plane, and when we stepped out of the airport into Shenzhen, the immediate humid, hot air hit all of us. We were now in south China, near the sea. I could see palm trees lining the path way to the bus. We hopped on the bus, met our new tour guide Erin, and were off to lunch. I could see the tall buildings of Shenzhen lining the roads and it was evident to see once again how different this city was from the others. Erin explained how Shenzhen became more of a city in 1979 and how it was a mainly a fish city. We soon arrived at our lunch destination, where we would be meeting a Peddie family. The Zhang family took us out for a great lunch. There was loads of food and every time we got a new dish, the food seemed to keep getting better. A few brave souls tried some of the more "exotic" food such as chicken feet, goose, and cow stomach. After lunch, we were originally scheduled to go to the art museum, however being that our flight was delayed, we decided to go to "Splendid China", a theme park that included many mini versions of Chinese tourist attractions, due to the recommendation of Jiang lao shi. When we were told that we were going to this park, I had imagined we would be going to an actual park, but no, this was even better. Our first stop at the theme park was at the Grand Epic Show: Dragon and Phoenix Dance. We all watched the show together as a group for about 30 minutes. The show was intriguing and the talents possessed by the dancers were insane. After the show, we all split up into separate groups for the remaining 1.5 hours and explored the theme park. The theme park, very similar to Epcot, was amazing. In my group, we first stopped at a mini Forbidden City, then went to a mini Great Wall of China, and then to surrounding gardens. It was weird to see all of these famous attractions in mini form being that we had just visited the real sites only days before. My group decided to end our visit by visiting some of the gift shops, where many of us bought fans because it was so hot and humid outside. We met back up with the entire group by a group of beautiful trees covered in lighted paper lanterns. Once the group was all back together, we headed back onto the bus, and went on our way dinner, where the Zhang family would be taking us out again. As we arrived to the restaurant, which was located on a rooftop, I was already in awe. The restaurant was absolutely stunning and the meal was even better. We had our own private dinning room, where all of the kids were able to sit together at one table. Some of the kids that took Chinese were able to sit with the adults and the Zhang family, where they could use their Chinese to converse. That dinner we had was honestly probably one of the nicest dinners I had ever had. As we ate, we could look out the window, or go on the balcony, and watch fireworks as they lit up the sky. Being that Shenzhen is near the ocean, we had a variety of fish for dinner. My favorite, however, was the honeydew juice that they served. I had never had anything like it, but it is now a new favorite of mine. I'm going to end up going home and making some of my own! An incoming freshman also joined us for the meal, along with his parents, and we were all able to talk to him and introduce our selves. At the end of the exquisite meal, Mr. Zhang was nice enough to give all of the students panda bear stuffed animals, as well as give the teachers a nice panda artwork. The gesture was incredibly sweet and all of us were in love with our new panda bears. By the end of the meal, it was already 10 pm. We had planned earlier in the day to go to a karaoke bar and sing our hearts out after dinner, but all of us were so exhausted that we had no energy left. We decided to go back to the hotel, where we all quickly fell asleep. Back at the hotel, we all needed to get ready for the next day, being that we would be leaving at 8am to go to our next adventure. Thank you Shenzhen, and Hong Kong here we come!

- Aimee Wiencek '18