Weekend Getaways to China

Twice recently I've left Hong Kong for a weekend getaway to China. Americans automatically get a ten year visa now, and I am trying to make the most of mine while I am over here.

1. First up was Shanghai! Whooooaaaa what an amazing city. This trip was for work as I was chaperoning a group of students attending a Model United Nations conference, but the students and us supervisors had a lot of time for exploring during our long weekend there.

With my amazing students at the end of the conference

What a view of the Shanghai skyline from The Bund

2. More recently I went to Shenzhen to see my friends in The Red Stripes play a gig and made a weekend out of it. Shenzhen is across the border from Hong Kong, and you can take the subway to the border crossing, go through immigration on foot, and then hop back on the subway on the other side- super easy! I'll write more about the trip later; for now, here are some photos.

Stacks of cash at the stock exchange

No trip to China is complete with grilled meats and hotpot

Rocking the massage parlour outfit

How cool are these solar panels covering a bamboo park?

Ok I might have been ambitious with my breakfast order

China grows on me more and more every time I visit. I look back to the posts I wrote when I visited Beijing and think about how I never even bothered writing about my trip to Nanjing last year, and I can't believe how much I have done a 180. Yes, it can be frustrating, and sometimes smelly, and pushy, and in your face, but China has so much going for it. For travelers, it's a never ending adventure of good eats and new experiences.