Arriving in Shenzhen is disturbing, leaving it - more so. The strangeness of the city, the smog, the sense of urgency, the focus on business - all of this becomes easy to live with in a few days. Then you leave, and the arrival in Hong Kong and the sense of familiarity, the sheer "Westerness" of Hong Kong compared to Shenzhen suddenly casts Shenzhen in a new light.
Some more stories that give us pause for thought:
1. There is a chain of speciality eateries in Shenzhen region called MAO JIA. They trade off the venerable image of Chairman Mao. The house dish as called "Mao's dinner" (pork belly and beans). A huge bust of Mao site in the foyer, and the drink of choice is - of course Mao Ti - that (in)famous Chinese liquer that burns paint off walls.
2. At a dinner the wealthiest people are the humblest and the most polite to their guests. They simply can't get enough of the wisdom of their guests, and as the toasts flow the wisdom seems to flow like the alcohol.
3. Toasts are to each other, friendship, health, trade, your country, their country, socialism Chinese style, the colour of your hair, the size of your family. It's an exercise in male bonding lubricated by goodwill.
4. Dinners start early and finish early. People just stand up and go home. No going on to the pub for a nightcap. Like all things in hte city you "go for it" and then you go home.
5. Taxi drivers do not rip you off if you have an address written in Chinese and you are respectful.
6. The people of Shenzhen are proud of their past and their future, and they are optimistic about their lives. It would be interesting if Australians were so inclined, rather than taking each day as it comes.
7. Bell boys in the hotels can find you deals on almost anything - they all want to start their own businesses and want to be your friend in business. It is probably not part of their staff training.
8. Paperwork and stamps are everything - it has to be official, recorded and witnessed, but only because that's the way it has always been done. The paperwork counts for very little - your word counts for everything.
9. Leaving Shenzhen with its Coco Park up market shops, the wide streets choked with cars and trucks, the factories and the office blocks, the high rise apartments and the tree filled parks under smog filled skies - the tension between old and new, rich and poor, modern and traditional is evident all around you.
Think I'll go back - although I can't quite figure out why.