9/1/18 – An Effortless Excursion

Today’s lecture deserved its own post – the material was interesting, the professor was energized, and the two hours seemed to fly by. The most memorable part of today, though, was our afternoon trip to Shenzhen. To be totally honest, I was a little nervous going in – although I consciously realize that China is perfectly safe to visit, I think I maybe share some of the fearful American prejudices that see the country as a “black box,” and a Soviet-esque state that good, freedom-loving Americans ought to avoid. Obviously I realize that this outlook is bogus, but perhaps all the wide-eyed looks and hushed warnings that I got from friends and family back home when I told them that I’d be visiting China rubbed off on me. Also, security lines and customs checks are never really a comforting environment, and to my own frustration I found myself vaguely afraid to finally set foot in the mainland. Needless to say, the trip went off without a hitch and was a lot of fun. The border crossing was less stringent than airport security, and the city of Shenzhen, honestly, reminded me a lot of the US. We walked around on wide sidewalks and through multi-level shopping malls, sang karaoke and waited an hour to get a table at a nice restaurant (which was immediately worth it after tasting the food) – all things that I’d ordinarily do with friends back in St. Louis. For some of the other students that could finally start using their Mandarin, I think the trip was even more exciting, and I anticipate that we’ll cross the border many more times before we fly home. Coming into this trip, I didn’t think we’d get that much time to explore the Mainland (which actually takes about half as long to travel to from Lingnan as Hong Kong island), but now that I realize how easy and convenient it is, I’m excited to visit Shenzhen again and get to know the city.