Chinese New Year was this Monday so we went to Shenzhen for a long weekend trip. We went mainly so that we could go to church (there is an international branch there) but we found that there is so much to do in Shenzhen. We LOVED it!
A little background information... Jane is a Chinese lady who owns the school that we teach at. Her friend, Cormick, is a college student from Hunan (about 6 hours away from Zhongshan) and he came to Zhongshan before the New Year to visit Jane and her family. He was then planning on going back to Hunan to be with his family for the New Year. Cormick really really wanted us to go back to Hunan with him. At first, it sounded really fun to have a guided tour of Hunan (it's where Chairman Mao grew up) but he was really persistent to the point that he was being really annoying and almost creepy. We told him that we wanted to go to Shenzhen because that is where our church was and he kept saying "Shenzhen is a very bad place to go" and "do not go there, come to Hunan with me". He told Jeanette (who can speak Mandarin) that he would even let her drive in his car to Hunan for free and that she could stay in his house. She said, "Really? For eleven girls? You have a car big enough to fit eleven girls and enough room in your house for eleven girs?" He replied, "Whaaaaa? No no no! Just for you! Just me and you!"
Obviously, Shenzhen it was. But when we got to the bus station, guess who was there?! Cormick and his parents! They said that they were going to go to Shenzhen with us for the New Year. Why they would forgo their holiday to be at home with extended family to invite themselves to hang out with a bunch of random Americans at "a very bad place to go" is beyond me. We still can't quite figure out their motives. Cormick's parents don't even speak English. So off to Shenzhen we went, Cormick and his parents, included. Here is Cormick, Tiann, and Candace and I on the bus to Shenzhen.
We had to split into two different hostels because all hostels were booked for the New Year. Because none of us were familiar with the area, we had no idea where in the city our hostels were located when booking them. Unfortunately, my groups' hostel was in the outskirts of the city in the middle of nowhere, which was a very costly mistake: It cost us a lot to get to and from the main part of the city and it cost us a lot to get our money back so that we could join the other group who was in the city for the other two nights. Oh well. What can you do? Now we know for next time.
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