Bring on the Night

Well, no way back now. I’ve jumped into the whole shebang with both legs first and eye tightly shut. I have started my own web blog.

During the last few days I have come across many of these on the Internet. Recently I discovered the whole community after looking for some Chinese software reviews (more about this another time). I suddenly saw the name “Shenzhen” and eagerly clicked the link beside it and found myself on an interesting blog maintained by this American fella working in Shenzhen. Very good stuff since he is an excellent writer spewing funny remarks about his daily life and observations in a world far from home (read: Shenzhen – China). You can find his blog here: Shenzhen Zen

Better explain what a blog is. A blog is a sorta diary of a person’s life. You write a piece whenever you find the time and feel like it. Pretty neat if you don’t mind people snooping in your life of course. Still you can always decide how frank you want to be, and leave out the dirty stuff. :-)

There is a lot to tell before start this blog on a more normal present basis. I have a “small clue” that much of the next part of my life will be deeply influenced by stuff happening in the last 8 months of my life, so I better rewind and take it from there.

First things first: What is your interest in Shenzhen you might ask? Well, about 8 months ago I started corresponding with a Chinese girl. She was working in Shenzhen, a city located just north of Hong Kong on the other side of the “old” border.

Note: Shenzhen is a huge city meant to be a competitor to Hong Kong in “the old days” before Hong Kong was given back to China from the Brits. The Chinese government arrange special deals for companies located here, and this draw thousands of Chinese with big dreams to the city to give it a shot.

Hmmm straying off here. As mentioned, I have been writing with this girl quite a while. I really begun liking her and her letters very much, and in conclusion: something needed to happen. Next step would be meeting for real. One thing is writing every day, another is what happens when you have the other person face to face. We planned the whole deal, which basically was that I had to go to meet her in Shenzhen. Considering Danish and Chinese wages this was also the only possibility.

I made all the preliminary arrangements from January to May so I had enough time. Mind that this is not just a normal vacation to Spain or Germany, but also a trip to the other side of the little blue/green planet. Things are a little more complicated than I thought. Among the usual stuff as packing and so on you have to get a bunch of stuff in order before going. You just don’t decide upon going to China 14 days before the departure like you would with a last minute vacation to Greece. To explain I will list some of the things that needs fixing:

Passport
Must be up to date and have room for many stamps. Fortunately mine was good to go (for once).

Visa
Takes about 1 month to get. This included filling out forms, inclosing my passport and sending it to the Embassy in Copenhagen hoping to see it again. It also included a very disturbing call at work from an employee at the embassy speaking a very poor English. Turns out he misunderstood the date of departure and was panicking on my behalf because he only had 2-3 days to return the visa to me. Fortunately he read the date wrong and when he finally realised he just said “Ahh You go 29 May?? Ahh Tsorrry ah ahhh”. CLICK! Guess “bye bye” is not a phrase he normally uses when he hangs up. My worries about the visa disappeared pretty fast when I realized what happened. Still I just sat there looking at the phone as if the call had been from Mars. Maybe it was.

Vaccination
Going to China and other countries on the far side of the planet calls for a check-up on vaccinations. Fortunately I found a really good homepage describing the most important vaccinations needed. I got some shots for tetanus and Hepatitis. Didn’t need more according to the doc.

Flight ticket
A good friend helped me with a link to several good homepages sorting flights after price. I easily found a ticket from Copenhagen to London and the on to Hong Kong. Since I live in Aalborg I also needed transportation to Copenhagen. My choice fell on another flight ticket, though it cost a little more that taking the bus or train. Saved me about 4-5 hours though, so I guess it was well spent.

Hotel reservation
My Chinese girlfriend (from now on called C.) recommended a hotel called Petrel Hotel after I turned the first 2 down. The 2 first were 5 star hotels, and since I would be there 13-14 days I instantly pictured my drained wallet. I knew nothing about hotel locations and their real quality in Shenzhen but could only compare prices. She finally came up with this one which looked very affordable, and according to her, also was close to her home. Perfect! (read more about my view on Petrel Hotel here: Petrel Hotel).

Travel information from Hong Kong to Shenzhen
I asked C. about this and was told that this should be pretty easy. There were shuttle busses at the Hong Kong Airport directly to the hotels. I relied on this information and decided to worry about this until I touched-down in HK.

A parlour
Better safe than sorry I thought and ordered a parlour on the Internet. A parlour is a little book with the most used Chinese phrases like “I would like to eat pork” and so on. Turns out that I never got to use it, but hey, who would have guessed.

Literature
Hmmm China is pretty far away and lifestyle is somewhat of a blur to most Danes. What I have later discovered is that most of us mix Chinese and Japanese traditions and lifestyle pretty much. Cautious man as I am, I bought the book “Turen gÃ¥r til Kina” (the journey goes to China). Mans best friend (beside his dog) when you travel abroad. The series include the most popular countries, and offers detailed information about lifestyle and the important information about travelling and living in the country. Invaluable for preparation of my then forthcoming journey.

Gifts for the lady
What I found out by researching is that gifts are essential. It is a part of the Chinese culture to bring a little something. I got a little help with the deciding and finally ended up with: Danish chocolate, Danish cookies, Danish Candy, A book about Denmark (In Mandarin), Danish honey and some Danish designed jewellery.

Arranging a interpreter for the first days
Since C. does not speak enough English to mention and my Chinese was to say “Ni hao”, we decided to use an interpreter the first few days when we met. Fortunately C. took charge in this regard and promised to see to this. I was relieved, since I dreaded arranging this from Denmark.

Checking out what sights to see in Shenzhen
Before going I was “ordered” by C. to find which sights I wished to see when I came to Shenzhen. Shenzhen is not a tourist city really, but still have a few sights to show for. I made a list and brought with me. We decided to pinpoint the sights from day to day so nothing would be put in a schedule. Also she had to work some days, but which she did not know at the time.

Buying extra clothes
My wardrobe wasn’t up to 28 degrees+ just yet, since it was winter here and my summer clothing began looking pretty outdated. I really had trouble finding shorts that did not bear a hole, or was too small. I must have turned the degrees too high on washday errrhmmm.

Lying to my baffled parents about going on a holiday in China “with a friend”
Worst task of all. Knowing that my parents would be terrified when I told them I was flying to the other side of the earth alone, I decided to keep it a “secret” as long as possible. When I finally let it slip, it was pure intent and done over some days. They did not know much details about me writing with a Chinese Girl, and most of all, they did not know that I was going to visit her. When I finally explained about the trip to China, the story had a twist. I did not go to meet a girl all alone, but was going on vacation with a friend. This way they would not worry too much. Pretty hard to keep the “whys?” away, but I managed. Close call a few times though.

Keeping all your colleagues and friends in the dark only mentioning you are going on vacation to China to visit a relative.
Same story. Since I did not know what the outcome of the travel would be, I decided to keep my colleagues and most friends at bay too. They were told a slightly different story that I was going to visit my cousin living there. Also I decided it would be wise not to mention much about neither the destination, nor the nature of my business before last possible second. Oddly enough I managed. Makes one wonder how interesting my life/vacation really is in their eyes. :-)

Now this may not seem that bad considering the many months I had for arranging but when you are moderately new to travel arranging and your wildest stunt has been to rent summerhouses in Norway, reserve a room a youth hostel in Munich and likewise, it IS a big deal. Usually I ally with a pal nerdish enough to take pride in arranging most of the basics. Well, not this time. I was on my own. Actually this should have terrified me I guess, but it didn’t.

Better stop here. Next time I will tell a little about the trip, and the time leading up till now. This way I can catch up with the present and use the blog as intended. :-)