If you went to one of the many Hong Kong-style 茶餐厅 in Shenzhen, you'll find a mug of Hong Kong-style 奶茶 milk tea is priced at between RMB10 and RMB15 (approximately SG$2-3). You may find your bowl of noodles or plate of rice costs about the same. A disconcerting discovery, if you're used to your drink priced at maybe about half the cost of your food. Or teh or kopi from the hawker centre at 90 cents.
In a few months, I may discover how much the Hong Kongers are actually paying for their milk tea. I hope it won't be too shocking.
But other than that, it's a nice jaunt over the border from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, even if only for a day. Lots of Hong Kongers do it - so much so that the Chinese have built a massive shopping centre (a la Lucky Plaza) right beside the 罗湖 Immigration Checkpoint.
For those who need to escape the bustle and crowds of Hong Kong on an extended basis, Shenzhen is convenient too. What works in its favour is a good (and still developing) and fairly new public transport network of buses, subway and relatively congestion-free roads. Relatively smooth roads! Except maybe around the old roads around 东门. But then it's well-serviced by the underground, so really, no need to travel by road.
And you want to go there because even the locals flock there for its cut-throat prices and wholesale markets for everything from shoes and fashion to textiles, toys and electronics. Quality, of course, is not a given - I purchased a pair of amazing super-shrink-in-the-wash trousers for all of $7.
But if you've got money to burn - the culture vultures will suss out the enclaves of the uber chic and arty-farty in double quick time. The highly-rated youth hostel I bunked at is exactly in one of these spots, called 华侨城 or OCT. Uneven cobbled streets, smokers puffing away at cool coffee joints, bars with live music, art galleries, avant garde boutiques, spacey furniture shops peddling mono-coloured home accessories, the Museum of Modern Art and more! Get with the programme - Sotheby's is moving Chinese contemporary art at US$10 million a piece now!
It's too bad I brought too-tight shoes this time around, so walking around all day like I usually do was a real and present pain. Besides that - you know your shoes are too tight when the tips of your toe nails take on a never-seen-before polished glint after several days of walking. Although I can't say if that also had anything to do with what the shoes are made of. Highly unrecommended method of polishing the toe nails.
