Customs always scares me. I\u2019m afraid of the strict rules and the consequences for accidentally breaking them. I feel uncomfortable being judged worthy or unworthy of entering a space, even if it\u2019s based on having completed the correct paperwork. I feel uncomfortable jumping the line because I have an American passport and looking back to see crowds of people waiting to go through more complicated entrance processes.<\/p>\n
Each time I get through customs I take a deep breath. It\u2019s not just dramatic: I really feel like I haven\u2019t been fully breathing, like if I just stay as quiet and still as possible, I\u2019ll slip through without being noticed. But each time, I make it and emerge on the other side to a new world, or at least a world different than the one that I\u2019ve come from. <\/p>\n
Today was no different. We emerged into Shenzhen, exchanged currency, and immediately saw Chinese police officers. While I\u2019ve seen only one police officer the entire time we have been in Hong Kong, I saw eight police officers today in Shenzhen. They were all smiling. One of them was laughing and talking to the taxi drivers outside of the customs area. Harry told me that they make him feel safer. <\/p>\n
All around the police people, the environment was different too. The streets were wider, the buildings were shinier, everything was clean. It seemed as if the space was committed to being modern and urban unlike the complex, multidimensional hybrid streets we\u2019ve seen in Hong Kong. The most similar place I\u2019ve seen in Hong Kong is Central though even there you can find tradition tucked into modernity, nature climbing up out of the urban city sidewalks. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Customs always scares me. I\u2019m afraid of the strict rules and the consequences for accidentally breaking them. I feel uncomfortable being judged worthy or unworthy of entering a space, even if it\u2019s based on having completed the correct paperwork. I … Continue reading