Glimpses of China - Shenzen

Glimpses of China - Shenzen
31/05/08 to 14/6/08 Rashmi Rastogi

Day 11: 10th June 2008 (Shenzen)

Shenzhen is one of the most flourishing cities in China during the past 20 years. There is a widespread saying: “You think you are brave until you go to Manchuria, you think you are well read until you reach Beijing and you think you are rich until you set foot in Shenzhen”. There is another saying which goes like this: “When a leaf falls from a tree, it passes 3 politicians in Beijing while it passes three doctors and three managers here.”
Located in the middle-south coast of Guangdong Province, Shenzhen neighbours Daya Bay in the east, the mouth of the Zhujiang (Pearl) River in the west, and Hongkong in the south. It is one of the earliest SEZ’s (Special Economic Zone) in China. It is also a newly rising tourist city with the most up-to-date tourist facilities and simple arrival procedures for visitors from abroad.

On the way to site seeing, our guide told that Shenzen has developed from a small town of 50,000 people to 14 million today. Hongkong is just about an hour’s drive from here. One can see Hongkong clearly in the distance. Local people are less. Outsiders are in a majority. Moreover, girls are much much more than boys. The ratio of girls to boys is 7:1. Our guide was a girl and she said that very difficult to find a boy.

Our first stop was the Silk Museum. Very good silk outfits were being sold. One should remember that Silk was discovered in China. There was free size T Shirt, which anyone can wear.

At 4 pm, after having hot tea / coffee in the room, we left for the “ Window of the World”.
Shenzhen "Window of The World" is located at Overseas Chinese Town along the beautiful Shenzhen Bay, covering an area of 480,000 sqm. 118 exquisite, magnificent, world-famous scenic spots and folk song or dance shows make World Square , the Area of Asia, the Area of Oceanic, the Area of Europe, the Area of Africa, the Area of America, the World Sculpture Park, Jurassic Park the nine fabulous parts of the whole park. It is a fantastic replica park . Here you can see vivid replicas of the world's wonders, historical heritages and famous scenic sites. The entire masterpiece is built at ratios of 1:1, 1:5 or 1:15. Within one day, you can visit many reproductions of famous sites from different countries. For example you can find the Mahamuni Pagoda of Rangoon and the Angkor Wat of Cambodia here. European architectural splendors, such as the Eiffel Tower, the Ancient Athens, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Tower of London will carry you back to the cradle of classical European culture. When you tour the miniature Roman Colosseum, you might notice a cruel and bloody scene. Enjoy the picturesque scenery as you take a gondola along the canals of Venice. Mysterious Africa is always full of life and vigor. Here, the Pyramids and the Sphinx are quietly waiting for your visit. After traveling through typical African hamlets, you come to the Oceania. Sydney Opera House, which boasts a unique style, is a landmark not only of Australia but also the whole Oceania. Looking from a distance, it looks like a luminous pearl on the vast expanse of blue sea water. The rumbles of Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon lead you to the America, a young continent. These two natural wonders are awe-inspiring. Moving on to modern civilization, in the replica of Manhattan you will see rows of towering skyscrapers. No wonder they say the rhythm of life speeds up here.

It offers tourists to see the world in miniature. This spectacular theme park features many of the world’s most famous sites and architectural landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Canyon and even the replica’s of the Easter Island, the Niagra Falls.

We took a tour of the Window of the world to get a good glimpse of the famous sites housed there. We went close to the Niagra Falls. It was a divine feeling. Our Taj Mahal, Agra is also majestically standing there. Later, we went up the Eiffel Tower miniature. It is one-third the size of the original (108 mtrs high). We had to take two escalators, one sloping and the other straight up. Wonderful view from the top. From the Eiffel Tower top we could see the Window of he world too. The Niagra Falls look majestic , with dew drops (tushar) being scattered all over. Gives a very cool and calm feel. We can see Hongkong in the distance, which is one hour by the creek bridge. We roamed the Window of the World checking out the various replicas.

Window of the World is full of foreign flavours

Shenzen Window of the World (miniature Eiffel Tower)

The Great Sphinx of Giza, Egypt

Miniature Taj Mahal - Window of the World

At 6 pm there was a Russian dance show, a ride on the monorail (have to purchase ticket) and a 3-D show in the Mt. Fuji theatre. We opted for the 3-D show. It was an underwater movie. The fish would come on to us and even spit. (there is a shower fixed on the front seat, which co-ordinated with the timing). Also the seat shakes, goes up and down. Some of our colleagues were scared to sit through the show.

The high point of a day spent at Window of the World is the evening parade featuring citizens of all the different countries that have just been toured, with a wonderful display of traditional dances and other performances. When night curtain falls, a cast of hundreds of artists from home and abroad on the same stage present the spectacular night show and fantastic float parade. On the shell-shape central stage, on the flower road and on the elliptical fountain stage, the magnificent, unique and novel performances display the world civilization, complemented by surrounding stereo sound effect and fancy lightings. The whole night show has created a dazing , colorful, grandiose performing atmosphere and is extremely entertaining. The creative night show in World Square is highly appraised by experts as"the milestone of Square Art in China". And this show, together with 118 scenic spots, form the most beautiful and attractive scenery in "Window of the World".

At 7.30 , we saw the Grand evening show in the huge dome theatre. The show was depicting the Love Stories of the world. It started with Helen of Troy, Ramayan, Stories from the Arabian Nights. There were atleast a few hundred artists in the Show and were very well co-ordinated. However, it was difficult to keep pace as things were moving too fast and the stage was huge covering 180 deg. And more. In Ramayan, we could locate Ram and Sita and later Ravana too, but was unable to understand as to what was going on !

After the show, we left for dinner and back to the hotel.