Shenzhen

For some reason that we ware unable to determine, our Visa to China this trip is a F- Visa with only two entries.  Neither BYU or SCUT seem to want to take responsibility for how this happened. What it really means to me is that we are not able to leave China during this semester.  So given those circumstances we have focused our weekends on interesting places to visit inside China.  We ventured down to Shenzhen right after our classes ended on Friday.  We have really never spent time in Shenzhen before.  My first trip to Shenzhen was in 2000 with Garrett and his friend Archer.  We crossed the border to find we were about the only people there.  At that time Shenzhen was a created city, newly built and sparkling clean, already for occupancy, just a few street sweepers keeping debris off the streets. 

We had a few opportunities in 2013-2014 to pass through Shenzhen on our way to Hong Kong but never stopped to spend any time in this city.  This weekend we changed all of that.   I must say Shenzhen has really grown into itself and then some. 

We spent time in the art district.  Most of the bulk art, we see in the U.S., we are told, originates in the art district of Shenzhen.  They are absolute masters at coping and mass producing art pieces.  Hotel size and numbers, business building size and numbers line the streets of this area.  Artist at work in the streets and on the corners; pretty amazing but not to surprising. 

Next stop was Splendid China, a park that is dedicated to the history and culture of the ethnic groups all over China.  Each area was represented in native costume, dance and typical skills from that area.  It was an interesting synopsis and representation of China’s culture.  The shows ranged from small and entertaining to a regular Las Vegas show, costuming and glitz included.