It's what's for dinner
Two days ago, I made my first trip across the border to the mainland to Shenzen. You know, the essentially frontier town that produces all the pollution that blankets the city I live in.
Why? See what it's like and to buy DVDs. Cheap DVDs. And I got a whole bunch and am just waiting for them to be delivered. While they are cheap, the price if you're caught crossing the border with said DVDs is pretty steep: about $1300 US steep. Hence, you pay some local $23 or so US to deliver them to you in HK.
My overall impression of Shenzen? Chaotic and messy. At one point, we hopped in a cab, who proceeds to pull a full U-turn right in the middle of a 4-way intersection. Which wasn't so bad when you saw people walking and pushing carts right down the middle of a highway. Not a road or a street, but ramps on the highway.
The subway there, while nice, lacked advertising. Which after coming from Hong Kong, is a very jolting thing. You look around wondering, where's all the posters? Why am I not being told to buy something from Sony.
And while everything was cheap, it wasn't easy. I had the most painful massage of my life, though I only had to pay $8 $US, including tip, for said hourlong massage.
But you can definitely tell what in China and what is Hong Kong. When you enter China, it's dark and kinda grungy. The HK side is much more organized, and what says HK like a Starbucks waiting for you right as you cross the border. That, and a Forbidden City of Snacks store, too.
And one final Shenzen note. I went up with two friends, Khatya and Julie. Julie grew up in London, but her parents were from Hong Kong originally and she came back here a few times growing up, so she knows the culture and the language, and makes for a great guide.
We're in the cab heading back, and we spy a whole stack of cages full of cats in a little public square. Khatya says, "Oooh, pet kitties!"
And Julie corrects her, "Um, when they're in cages, they're not for pets."
And Khatya says, "You mean they're for...."
And Julie says, "Yup."
And then she informs us all about how to tell pet animals from food animals. The Chinese, she says, have bred one breed of dogs specifically for food. They call it Vegetable Dog, because that's what it's served with.
Why? See what it's like and to buy DVDs. Cheap DVDs. And I got a whole bunch and am just waiting for them to be delivered. While they are cheap, the price if you're caught crossing the border with said DVDs is pretty steep: about $1300 US steep. Hence, you pay some local $23 or so US to deliver them to you in HK.
My overall impression of Shenzen? Chaotic and messy. At one point, we hopped in a cab, who proceeds to pull a full U-turn right in the middle of a 4-way intersection. Which wasn't so bad when you saw people walking and pushing carts right down the middle of a highway. Not a road or a street, but ramps on the highway.
The subway there, while nice, lacked advertising. Which after coming from Hong Kong, is a very jolting thing. You look around wondering, where's all the posters? Why am I not being told to buy something from Sony.
And while everything was cheap, it wasn't easy. I had the most painful massage of my life, though I only had to pay $8 $US, including tip, for said hourlong massage.
But you can definitely tell what in China and what is Hong Kong. When you enter China, it's dark and kinda grungy. The HK side is much more organized, and what says HK like a Starbucks waiting for you right as you cross the border. That, and a Forbidden City of Snacks store, too.
And one final Shenzen note. I went up with two friends, Khatya and Julie. Julie grew up in London, but her parents were from Hong Kong originally and she came back here a few times growing up, so she knows the culture and the language, and makes for a great guide.
We're in the cab heading back, and we spy a whole stack of cages full of cats in a little public square. Khatya says, "Oooh, pet kitties!"
And Julie corrects her, "Um, when they're in cages, they're not for pets."
And Khatya says, "You mean they're for...."
And Julie says, "Yup."
And then she informs us all about how to tell pet animals from food animals. The Chinese, she says, have bred one breed of dogs specifically for food. They call it Vegetable Dog, because that's what it's served with.
posted by throm at 6:34 PM
1 Comments:
You can always cook your dog with this.
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