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Before I move to Valencia I need to get done with all the posts from our China trip from last year … ach! So I better get to it! After Macau we took the Ferry to Shenzhen (Shekou Ferry Terminal – which is kind of far away from Downtown). In order to get into China you will need most likely a Visa. But when we arrived I have seen two German guys at a counter and it looked like they just got their Visa right there – not sure though!

Once you get through customs be prepared to got bothered by private Taxi Drivers – which is extremely annoying. When we got through customs, there was one guy who was really convinced that we take a ride with him! No thank you, but he just didn’t get it into his head. On top of it, we were in panic because the ATM in the Ferry Terminal did not accept Foreign Credit Cards – so we had no cash on us at all and that stupid guy following us the whole time. After asking around we managed to locate an ATM across a street in a run down office building – the writing of the ATM menu was all in Chinese! But after putting in the pin we heard the sound of counting cash! Phew! … So off we go and hopped into an official taxi while bucking off that penetrant guy.

Taking Taxis in China is extremely cheap – just make sure you have the address written down in CHINESE

After we got into our Hotel we had to take a nap – the drama at the Ferry Terminal was just too draining. And after the nap I discovered this odd thing in our closet:

Not sure if that was to protect from smoke or a helmet while China gets nuclear bombed. Oh well , we didn’t get to use them.

So, after our nap .. first thing we did was heading over to … Wal Mart ..lol. It was right next to our hotel and I just could not resist to check out a Wal Mart in China. … Turns out that Shenzhen has 7 or 8 Wal Marts … which is kind of shocking.

Wal Mart, the happy hang out place!

Fresh …. super fresh fish I mean.

Yummy Cooking Cake.

Bizarre looking check out treats.

I had a blast at the Wal Mart – everything so familiar but on the other hand yet so weird. After the quick stop over we took the Shenzhen Metro to Downtown …. The metro there is extremely easy to use, since the city only has 2 lines.

Before you start your Metro journey you need to buy a token from the vending machine. Via touchscreen you press your destination and you will get a token for that specific ride like this one:

It has some kind of RFID Chip in it which you just hold over the reader on the entrance:

And when you leave the station you need to drop in the token in order to leave the station.

I also really like the fact that the map inside the metro train shows you exactly where you are:

Loved it … no way you could get lost.

In the next post I will write about one of the highlights of the whole trip ..

Pet Link: Weird Inside Doggy Toilet