Batgung

Hi Clipperjay;

A couple more notes on Shenzhen. Mrs Tall and I made a shopping trip up there a couple of months ago. It was the first time I'd been there in quite a while. The big change was the new subway system had just opened. It had been running for just a few days when we tried it out, so there were still lots of people having their first go at buying tickets, finding stations, etc. Never the less, it was almost as nice as the MTR in Hong Kong. It makes a big difference in terms of getting around Shenzhen, also -- it runs from right at the border deep into the city, with another line crossing the main line.

The other things about Shenzhen is that it almost defies description in that it's changing and being built up so quickly. It's now a big city in and of itself.

Although it's just across the border from HK, it still has a definite 'mainland' feel to me. It's a little rougher, you're more likely to be pickpocketed, as Synic has pointed out, and so on. But Hong Kong people go there all the time; many work there or in the surrounding area, and many many more go there for shopping, eating, and massages (of both the licit and illicit variations) since most things are considerably cheaper than in HK. Note that for non-Chinese expatriates, however, this advantage is seriously offset by the need to pay for a visa to cross the border. The prices of these vary by nationality and whim of the Chinese officials, but these days it's usally at least HKD400 to get one.

Oh, and to correct one mistaken point in your original post: Shenzhen is directly across the border from HK. You can walk right into it. It's about 40 minutes' train ride from downtown HK to the border, which is where you may have gotten that figure.

Mr Tall