Shenzhen Local Customs

It has to be said! In spite of all the bad reports and messages about the Shenzhen shopping district LuoHu/Lo Wu there is some good, too.

When dealing in advanced order there are some wonderful retail shops, too! Working with design clothes for casino dancers my brother found someone who has good products and stuff in his shop in Shenzhen. He became a regular costumer ... for several years already.

They created a wonderful understanding and some good business. And indeed ... the shop has some great glitter and glamour products, and whatever you design in your mind they will produce. In LuoHu Shenzhen ...

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As the orchid is the city flower of Singapore the azalea has been selected as the symbol flower of Shenzhen. This flower with strong vitality and named Baojin, too, got so popular because she looks sparkling, bubbling with red, purple, and yellow brilliance.

You can find this flower all over the place. For one moment I thought the azalea has been placed in Shenzhen specially because of Christmas time like we do in Holland.

Wrong idea. Together with the mandarin orange trees and the narcissus the azalea is the main flower. So enjoy the ocean of azalea blossoms, in red, purple and yellow colours ... like the locals do.

Continously amazed by the Chinese balconies on television I could see with my own eyes these remarkable sometimes tiny places.

I know when laundry is washed by hand it is the best to dry the laundry on balcony. It will dry by the wind in the fastest way. And throughout Southeast Asia people still do their laundry in this way, no matter regarding washing machines.

Just the enclosing by iron grillwork I do not understand. It looks so under lock and key, so enclosed ... like a tiny jungle.

So many appartments with its own balcony showing the iron grillwork, decorated by several plants with colourful flowers growing in pots. And the ornament of clean linen and coloured washing ...

Once you crossed from Hong Kong to Shenzen, you will see the sudden disappearence of English alphabets. Fortunately, for major tourist destinations and MRT subway, there is enough English signs to get you around.

But is it good to recognize and rewarding to learn a few important Chinese characters like "shen zhen" (Shenzhen), "guang dong" (Guangdong), "zhong guo" (China), "xiang gang" (China), "zhu" (exit), "ru" (enter), "nan" (male), "nu" (female).

If you are going to a destination on your own, it is good idea to get it written on a paper in Chinese characters - not in "han yu pin yin", i.e. "Bao An".

In China as well as anywhere in a Chinese restaurant, tea drinking is the norm.

If you joined a Shenzhen tour, you will be taken "hostage" to a tea shop. As it is part of the reason why your tour price is cheaper, you may as well enjoy your time there.

Someone will demonstrate how to prepare the different kinds of tea and describe the different types of tea and their benefits. So you can sample the different taste. Be careful, it may be hot.

If you feel obliged to buy the tea and beautiful tea packing, there is no need to buy the most expensive type or buy too much if you are not a regular drinker. The best tea can be spoilt if not properly stored over time.

In China, paper cutting with a pair of scissor is a traditional art.

Elaborate designs of animals and landscapes with red paper are often framed.

Some are considered works of art.

At the Folks Cultural Village, you can get a quick cameo profile of yourself of a paper cut for a small price.

It is extremely rude in their culture to make a show of yourself. If you have a problem with a meal or hotel, just calmly take your issue to the waiter or manager. I promise you they will do all they can to make it right. They take any dissatisfaction presonal.
And no matter how loud you get if they don't speak english, they don't speak english.

Shopping heaven.....