Weeked in China
On October 7th and 8th I joined my co-workers on a company retreat just outside of Shenzhen in China! It was a great, thoroughly relaxing weekend, which was really really nice!
We took a bus there, which only took about and hour and a half. One the way we had to stop and unload twice to go through different border crossing stations. Getting through the border definitely takes longer if you are not a “permanent Hong Kong resident.” I was the only one in the group who was not, so I was often the hold up, but it was okay. I was glad to experience this one time with co-workers all around me who knew what was going on. The most interesting thing at the border is they make you take all you luggage with you. Then they have big scanners, like at the airport, to look in it, except no one puts there stuff on the conveyer belt, and you really do not have to, I really can’t figure that one out.
The place where we stayed was called the Palm Island Resort, and it was very very nice. It is actually a gated community for the expatriate community that works in Shenzhen. It has everything a small town could need, including a school, hospital, grocery store, a couple restaurants, an arts a crafts facility etc… and all the homes are very nice. They are built around a golf course designed by Jack Nicolaus. The places we had to stay were so unbelievably large, I cannot even explain it. One apartment had five bedroom, 7 bathrooms, a living room, dining room, full kitchen, and laundry room. The dining room only was about the size of our WHOLE flat in HK. I think the square-footage would be comparable to my house in Calgary not including the basement (and 7 bathrooms?!). for me the place was a little strange because it felt like you were on a movie set… all the people who worked in this little town wore uniforms according to their rank and role, and everything was picture perfect… it was kind of like “The Truman Show.” Just over the fence you could see the city of Shenzhen which, of course, looks startling different from where we were staying.
I spent my time sleeping, reading, swimming, bike riding, running, eating very good food, and I even painted a picture. We had a formal dinner, with performances, on the Saturday night to celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival. It was a great chance to get to know my co-workers better, and a lot of fun. My favourite part of the whole weekend was after the dinner I went with 12 of my co-workers and they taught me the basics of how to play Ma-Jong! Nan, I am telling you, if you ever get tired of bridge I think this is the game for you! It is a lot of fun and it involves the same level of strategizing and all that jazz.
So, all in all, if you are looking for a cheap and luxurious getaway, and you don’t mind the feeling of a living in an alternate reality, then this is the place for you, especially if you like golf, I heard the courses are amazing.
Check out the pics:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2100809140
We took a bus there, which only took about and hour and a half. One the way we had to stop and unload twice to go through different border crossing stations. Getting through the border definitely takes longer if you are not a “permanent Hong Kong resident.” I was the only one in the group who was not, so I was often the hold up, but it was okay. I was glad to experience this one time with co-workers all around me who knew what was going on. The most interesting thing at the border is they make you take all you luggage with you. Then they have big scanners, like at the airport, to look in it, except no one puts there stuff on the conveyer belt, and you really do not have to, I really can’t figure that one out.
The place where we stayed was called the Palm Island Resort, and it was very very nice. It is actually a gated community for the expatriate community that works in Shenzhen. It has everything a small town could need, including a school, hospital, grocery store, a couple restaurants, an arts a crafts facility etc… and all the homes are very nice. They are built around a golf course designed by Jack Nicolaus. The places we had to stay were so unbelievably large, I cannot even explain it. One apartment had five bedroom, 7 bathrooms, a living room, dining room, full kitchen, and laundry room. The dining room only was about the size of our WHOLE flat in HK. I think the square-footage would be comparable to my house in Calgary not including the basement (and 7 bathrooms?!). for me the place was a little strange because it felt like you were on a movie set… all the people who worked in this little town wore uniforms according to their rank and role, and everything was picture perfect… it was kind of like “The Truman Show.” Just over the fence you could see the city of Shenzhen which, of course, looks startling different from where we were staying.
I spent my time sleeping, reading, swimming, bike riding, running, eating very good food, and I even painted a picture. We had a formal dinner, with performances, on the Saturday night to celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival. It was a great chance to get to know my co-workers better, and a lot of fun. My favourite part of the whole weekend was after the dinner I went with 12 of my co-workers and they taught me the basics of how to play Ma-Jong! Nan, I am telling you, if you ever get tired of bridge I think this is the game for you! It is a lot of fun and it involves the same level of strategizing and all that jazz.
So, all in all, if you are looking for a cheap and luxurious getaway, and you don’t mind the feeling of a living in an alternate reality, then this is the place for you, especially if you like golf, I heard the courses are amazing.
Check out the pics:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2100809140
posted by Lizzy at 11:08 AM
2 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
hahaha, i was writing something and i posted it by accident without finishing it (hangover) anyways, yea, it sounds like you had an awesome trip! and hopefully your doing much better! so now that i dont have roaches or at least not since last time, there are like fruit flys everywhere, lol, so annoying, and i think they're RED!
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