Once we got through immigration and customs we were immediately underwhelmed. Shenzhen was rather bland. It was flat, very static and uninteresting buildings, and very few people. To be fair to the later, it is the start of Chinese New Year so a lot of people had left already. There were a few shops just across from the station that we decided to check out. In one of the convenient stores Chase and I got dumplings and meat on a stick. Not exactly sure what it was but it was good. We also walked into a KFC to see what it was like. It was at that moment that I realized there was not a single thing in English, anywhere. This continued throughout the day. Almost no one we can across spoke even a little English. We decided to try to figure out if there was somewhere more interesting to go to in the city and to find a market. Back in the station we found a couple of pamphlets for visitors but they were very poorly done. We managed to get two maps (both with completely different information on them) that were not helpful at all. One had too big of a scale, the other was too small. The larger one had a map key, but only sort of matched some of the symbols and colors on the map. The other had no key at all. So we decided the best thing to do is go somewhere else in the city and wonder a round for a bit. The Shenzhen subway had two lines and we felt that where they intersect might be a good place to start. On the subway I began to realize just how much of a police state China is. On each train there were multiple police officers going up and down the train constantly. Each station had more. On the surface and on the streets they were everywhere. We saw all kinds of combination of security guards, police, and military personnel constantly. There was one police officer whose beat was apparently just the seating area of a McDonalds. It was almost humorous when they took notice of us. I remember passing by a group of military officers and one of them saw me. His posture immediately changed. He had somewhat of a stern look but it seemed like he was thinking "A Westerner! Finally some excitement!...wait, what am I suppose to do? I'll just stand over here and watch." Once we got to the stop we went up to the surface.
The exit we got out on was in a Sheraton Hotel which seemed very out of place. It was a sleek solid black building with fountains out front. Surrounding it was bland, run down towers. However, in the streets there was a New Years market which was something Chase and I were looking for. While walking the street all the booths reminded me of the vendors at the Wayne County Fair (although a lot less formal and significantly more crowded).
Many of the shops were selling New Years decorations which were just as cheap and commercialized as many of our holiday's decorations have become in the States. One of the vendors was selling fried baby birds. Chase bought a dozen for 10RMB (about US$1.50). I tried one, the seasoning was really amazing but the chick itself was not. At one point a girl probably about our age came up to us and said in decent English "Excuse me, you are the first foreigner my mother has ever seen. Can she take a picture we you?" At first I thought that would has to be impossible in such a large city. But then I glanced around and realized that so far Chase has been the only other Westerner I had seen. We agreed and made the mother was very excited. Once we made it down one street of vendors we wondered into an adjacent mall. Again, it seemed out of place. It was really fancy. At one part there was even a live band with a rather large audience. Chase and I grabbed a quick lunch at a Pizza Hut. The menu had some English but the important thing was we knew what we were ordering. The waiter greeted us in English which surprised me and I started giving him my order in English. However, greetings were apparently as far as his English went so we ended up ordering by pointing at pictures. The prices were comparable to back home but this Pizza Hut was super fancy and played classical music. After we finished eating I was determined to buy something from the market. There were all kinds of interesting and unique trinkets. There were also the obviously mass produced items but I wasn't very interested in those. As I started looking at the items I was surprised none of the shopkeepers were paying attention to me. They just ignored me while I looked through their wears. One man did show me a kaleidoscope but didn't pressure me beyond that. After looking a few booths I created a list in my mind of the things I would try to buy and whatever I could get at a decent price I would go for. So I ask one of them how much an item was. The item was a box that contained a set of colorful blocks with pictures and Chinese written on them. The box was worn and the blocks were dirty, but it looked pretty neat. When he gave me the price I didn't understand a word he said, but he held up two fingers. Chase and I debated a little bit on what he meant. We guessed it was either 200RMB for the set or 2RMB for each. I then tried to ask him what they were. He made a gesture that suggested writing or rubbing. I'm not convinced he understood my question since I had trouble thinking how that applied to the blocks in question, but I decided to go ahead with the bargaining. The first step was to establish what two meant. I didn't get very far until Chase came up with the idea of using his phone to type numbers. He typed 200 (so it was for the set) and I then type in 50. He shook his head and turned away. So I moved on and went to his neighbor and asked about an old booklet that had Chinese and drawn pictures in it. After a couple of numbers went back and forth we quickly settled on 65RMB. The man was so excited (I know I paid too much for it, but they know I have more money then their average customer) but it was my first choice item to begin with. With that transaction, the whole side of the market immediately went hyperactive. A white man was buying things! It was less then a second that the first man with the blocks was poking me waving a cell phone with a number on it. It was still too high so I offered lower and he shook his head again and walked away. In the mean time, the man I bought the booklet from gave me change. By that time I had a second offer. My guess is that he wanted to negotiate tough by walking away but was worried he would lose the Westerners business. I continued to negotiate on the blocks but for the rest of the time his partner (perhaps son?) participated too. I found the whole thing humorous. The older man acted tough and would walk away from my offer, but the younger guys would immediately show me his cell phone with a lower number. This went on for a while with every one communicating only with numbers on a phone. When we finally agreed on a price they were ecstatic and I decided I had spent enough money for one day. All the other shop keepers were showing me all kinds of stuff, but the prices were rapidly skyrocketing. I just walked away. The problem was that even though the vendor on the other street did not see me buy anything, they saw I was carrying things that were obviously purchased at the market. The very last vendor did manage to nab me, but I only showed a little interest because he did have some pretty neat things and I didn't want to buy anything more. As I walked away the man came back to me and wanted to see the things I purchased. I let him see, as at the time Chase was distracted by a child playing some sort of instrument and I wasn't going anywhere soon. The man then showed me some posters I had not seen before, mostly propaganda posters of Mao. I decided since I was in China I should get one. His offer was so cheap I felt like I shouldn't even bargain lower and took it. At that moment I decided to stop buying things again. We decided to go back to the subway and try another station. The one we came out at had a mall attached to it underground. This mall was very tight and compact. Each store was probably about the size of half a small dorm room. The stores seemed to go on for ever in a rather labyrinth like manner. It took us a while to figure out how to get out. Once outside, we found it drab like before and didn't spend much time there. I did however, buy a piece of amazing chocolate cake for only 4RMB (.60 cents). We then headed back to the station to get back into Hong Kong. When we got there we decided to eat at a local restaurant before leaving. The food was very good, but we got poor service. I don't think the poor service was because they were poorly trained or that they didn't like us. It was more of they didn't know what to do with us. This was a theme that seemed to have been carried on through out the day. When ever I tried to wave down the waitress she seemed to have a panic attack, run to talk to her manager and then the manager would just look very confused while they both walked away together. After we paid we walked across the street into the station to go though immigration and customs. I wasn't sure if I should declare the items I bought so I asked the guy at the declaration desk about the rules. This led to another bizarre encounter. The guy asked to see my items. I showed him them and asked me to open the box. He picked up one of the blocks and looked at them. He put it down and immediately asked for my passport. I gave it to him and we quickly ran off and talked to another customs agent. At that moment I realized that the box probably looked like something drugs would be smuggled in, so I had a feeling that it was going to be a while before I was going anywhere. The guy came back with two additional agents, a girl and an older woman (I'm guessing she was both of their superior officer). The guy didn't stay much longer but the other two women looked through my three items very extensively. I have a feeling the guy didn't know much English, the girl did, and the woman was the one who made decisions. I was asked all kinds of questions about the items. They wanted to see receipts and I explained that I bought them in the market so I didn't have any. Thankfully they never asked what the items where because to be honest I had no idea. For a while they seemed really serious. The older woman went through every detail of the items, pointing out imperfections, nicks, and read every bit of Chinese on the blocks, poster, and the entire booklet. Then the mood started to change. The older woman just seemed confused the girl laugh several times. I think she found it humorous I bought a Mao poster, asking at one point "Do you like Mao?" I responded with the safest thing I could think of at the time "I find him...interesting" which resulted in her laughing again. The woman took charge and the girl started making small talk with us asking about why we were in Hong Kong. At that point I knew eventually I would be able to leave. The girl explained to us that what they were concerned about was the value. While I was entangled with customs, Chase picked up a pamphlet that explained the rules. If I would have done that first I would have known this was a waste of time but one of the rules was that customs could confiscate anything that is deemed a national relic. Despite not knowing exactly what I bought, it did make me feel a little better that customs took that much time and personnel to decided if it was that special or not. Eventually I was let go and didn't have to fill out any paper work. The whole day seemed so surreal. I doubt that I am even coming close to conveying the bizarre world that is Shenzhen.
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