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I have been to Shenzhen twice in my life and during my second trip there, I was privileged to have my trusty Sony DSLR A-200 with me. As a result, I was able to snap loads of photos albeit some of them are in serious need of polishing up. My skills as a photographer has been gradually improving but I believe I still need loads of experience to get to that “Pro” title. Anyways, these photos were taken during my second trip to Shenzhen during December, 2008.

The first photo you see here is actually the left wing of the small but elegant Airbus A320, an AirAsia flight. The plane was cozy enough even though it was a little bit cramped up inside. It was definitely much better than a Boeing 737 in my opinion. Furthermore, the plane was relatively new and the seats, the walls as well as the interior was looking perfectly fine. No weird chewing gums on the seat handles or the windows. Also, just to highlight how the plane looked like on the inside. Here are two photos of the interior, the first being the front of the plane whilst the second being the rear of the plane.

Alrighty then, enough with the plane. Let’s move on the the Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport. Here’s a photo of how the outside looks like. I snapped this shot while on a bus that was taking us to our hotel. Please forgive me for the tiny reflections you see on the transparent windows.

Whilst on our way towards our hotel, I took a lot of shots of the traffic around us because China’s traffic are left-handed traffic and this was something new to me. It was a little bit weird for me to be on the right side of the road when I’m so used to the left side of the road back in Malaysia. I also took the liberty to snap a shot of their Toll Plaza. It was huge and full of Chinese Characters (obviously o.o~).

Also, Shenzhen really lived up to its name of being a city with a novel and modern cityscape because throughout our journey to our hotel, I was mesmerized by the myriads of tall modern buildings and skyscrapers. There were many high rise towers, office buildings as well as residential apartments and condominiums along the stretch of highway our bus drove us through. I bet we can’t see that many tall buildings back in Malaysia. Here’s an example of what I meant. Look at this architectural wonder. The Motorola Tower in Shenzhen. All glassy and new and modern!

There were many more architectural designs and I took so many of them that I don’t think I can simply post them all up here. There were just too many of them. Words simply couldn’t explain them so here are a few shots of those nice looking skyscrapers and tall buildings.

Upon arrival at our hotel, we checked in and off loaded our luggage and stuffs and started off our first day in Shenzhen! I was excited and I brought along my gears (DSLR camera) and started snapping away at every opportunity I get. Well, I was getting carried away while I was on the bus earlier but anyhow I continued to snap away like a hungry beast. I snap at stuff that I thought weird or nice to look at. I snap at stuff that I thought I would never see again and there were shots of Shenzhen’s streets, the pedestrian walks, the people and their culture. Some of them shown below.

I know that China’s cities have loads of bicycles or tricycles and etc but I never would have thought that Shenzhen didn’t have as much bicycles as the other cities like Shanghai or Beijing. There were bicycles but not as many. Oh well, doesn’t matter anyways. We walked along the pedestrian sidewalk and we started getting hungry and my dad said “Let’s go look for some food”. Eventually, we chanced upon an odd looking building that looks like a restaurant. The usual chinese restaurant that resembles Overseas restaurant back in Malaysia. We went inside and were surprised to see the locals, having some sort of crazy meal. There was this huge plates of brown colored meat and bones. My dad instantly became interested and asked the waiter for information regarding that dish and he went ahead and ordered some for us. It was actually, a gigantic pork bone with a lot of meat and fats. It might not look healthy but it sure does makes me hungry and crave for more of that dish. Here’s a shot of what that stuff looks like.

Two hungry dudes, munching on a very big bone

There were other dishes ordered and this was how they look like.

Oh and by the way, China’s dumplings are probably the best in the world. The succulent juicy meat was so mesmerizing. I just cant stand it. If you want to have some superb dumplings, China is the only place to get them.

Super dumplings

After the satisfying meal, we continued walking around and I found out that KFC and Starbucks have both made their mark here in Shenzhen.

Oh and China, is a modern city right? Wait till you see this.

An automated car parking facility! In China! It feels as though I’m in Japan when I snap this shot. It’s weird, I know but it was definitely an experience not to be missed. Anyways, we continued walking and decided to go have a look at their subway stations. The stations looks very much like the ones in Singapore (MRT Stations).

I took the liberty to snap a shot of their “Single Journey Ticket”. It’s a greenish colored plastic token as illustrated here.

Anyways, we commuted with the subway train towards a place my sister had marked as “Bu Xing Jie” and once we arrived there, we were instantly hungry again. It was already late in the evening and the day was getting darker. So, we went towards Ajisen Ramen that was just around the corner and had our stomach filled to the brim there.

After our sumptuous dinner at Ajisen Ramen, we walked around “Bu Xing Jie” and I took a lot of shots there. Here are some of the shots for your viewing pleasure.

My sister begged me to snap this shot because of an artist she admired, “Show Luo”

There were many people out on “Bu Xing Jie” and it was simply crowded. We can hardly walk. The locals were there as well, probably out for some Christmas shopping.

I liked the colors and the oriental feel of this building

There’s no surprise that even here, at “Bu Xing Jie” there was a Starbucks and even a Pizza Hut .

And again, my sister begged me to take another shot of her idol, a close up instead.

Whilst we were walking around, I noticed there were these metallic things embedded on the ground and I thought, they look kinda unique and so I snap some shots of it.

We walked across this long stretch of “Bu Xing Jie” and eventually everyone was tired and just wanted to go back to our hotel rooms and rest. However, right before we all went back, we noticed these weird little cubes (there were about 12 of them) sticking out of the sidewalk of a shopping mall. Little did we know that there were words and texts printed on it, and that each of them represented something! Zodiac signs! I ran around each cube hoping to find my zodiac sign and finally found it (Aries) and snap a shot of it.

And after that. We took our journey back to the hotel and ended our first day at Shenzhen! I hope I didn’t bore you guys/gals with my ramblings and photos. Not all of the photos were posted and because of that, I have made a slide show of all the photos taken on the first day at Shenzhen for your viewing pleasure. Have fun looking (admire I hope ) at the photos and please do comment on this post ya? Because I shamelessly loves comments .

The slideshow below: