{"id":530,"date":"2005-06-13T19:27:00","date_gmt":"2005-06-13T13:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.naturestrands.com\/home\/enter-the-dragon\/"},"modified":"2005-06-13T19:27:00","modified_gmt":"2005-06-13T13:57:00","slug":"enter-the-dragon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naturestrands.com\/home\/enter-the-dragon\/","title":{"rendered":"Enter The Dragon…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enter the Dragon\u2026<\/p>\n

It was the D-day for me\u2026yeah it\u2019s about embarking on Chinese venture\u2026I reached Bangalore Airport at around 7.45 or 8.0. Thought it would be an easy go \u2018check-in\u2019\u2026but realized its not\u2026.only when I saw the mammoth queue landing in front of the baggage sign on\u2026it took time to complete of my formalities. Luckily got the window ticket\u2026was more than happy for that. I was put into the cabin-crew; thought it would be boring\u2026but couldn\u2019t get bored though\u2026.for obvious reasons\u2026:D. I wasn\u2019t in a mood to leave the corridor. Suddenly came in the announcement, that the flight I was supposed to fly had got delayed by half an hour. I was more than happier to hear that.<\/p>\n

Finally came my Voyager\u2026.it was a colossal Boeing 747; the heart of the plane opened her arms widely. It was around 11:00 PM when the Boeing began her journey gently climbing up into the sky towards the destiny carrying all her beloved ones. Once it reached an altitude of 33,000 feet the craft was whisking the air. Take off was the awesome experience, at least Bangalore looked ecstatic from sky pack. I was sitting almost over the left-wing engine, it was a great view. The earth was laid with \u2018Carpet of Lights\u2019<\/p>\n

Our road map\u2026oops rather Air Map\u2026was displayed on a flat screen\u2026information was quite adequate. It also mentioned the Time at each zone. Thai Air-hostesses were very warm\u2026in acknowledging to requests. I had the legion of \u2018Inscrutable Americans\u2019\u2026was a nice read. I had gained the time when we were in Bangkok around 3.30 in the morning\u2026huh it was a huge Airport\u2026having 77 bays\u2026suddenly thought of Bangalore Airport: D. Seriously we lag a lot when it comes to infrastructure\u2026I was literally lost in the mammoth Airport\u2026.was suppose to wait for 2 more hours to obtain the \u2018Boarding pass\u2019 to Hong Kong. Did a window shopping across the Airport\u2026by the time I completed one row 2 hrs had fled apart\u2026.:D,<\/p>\n

Again was lucky enough to board into Thai Airline Boeing 747 with a window ticket. The only difference this time was that I was over the right \u2013wing engine\u2026We boarded around 8:00 AM (HST). This time it was early morning and was able to have an eye on each and every cloud that passed by\u2026There were few ecstatic blissful views on the way to Hong Kong\u2026especially when we passed at some place where we were sandwiched between two layers of clouds\u2026<\/p>\n

I had fallen asleep, suddenly listened to the announcement of entering Hong Kong terminus\u2026ohh gosh watta view it was\u2026it was a Da Vinci\u2019s painting of a Monalisa\u2026a huge cluster of mountains\u2026..at the middle of the rocks one can find the tall sky scrapers in huge numbers trying to kiss the sky\u2026there was huge dam at the higher end of the cluster and Sea at the other end\u2026infact the city is in the middle of the mountain chain and Sea.<\/p>\n

Suddenly the craft started to lower drastically, knew it would be landing\u2026suddenly I was awestuck to see that we were landing on Sea\u2026then found a narrow trajectory leading its way into the Island\u2026that was the most zeal able landing one could had\u2026yes it was Hong Kong\u2026the beautiful city. I thought Bangkok was a huge Terminus but I was wrong when I saw Hong Kong terminus\u2026that changed by opinion. Suddenly Air-India flight landing dragged my eyes\u2026realized yeah I m missing India even in this beautiful place\u2026<\/p>\n

Hong Kong airport was build hardly 8-10 years back. It\u2019s a \u2018Man-Made\u2019 island; there\u2019s been a record that they shifted to that place in less than 48 hrs. The place here is very systematic\u2026juss like the function of our \u2018Heart\u2019 is to pump and generate the blood\u2026the function of each and every member who works for Hong Kong Airport is well defined\u2026its managed very well tooo.<\/p>\n

From Hong Kong it was suppose to be an hour journey, I had 2 means of commutation to reach Shenzhen from Hong Kong. One is boarding a Bus and the other is a Ferry. Although my mind had prioritized on boarding a Bus when I was in Bangalore, I changed my plans to take a Ferry. Y you may wonder\u2026here is the answer\u2026if I take a Ferry I would have commuted with all mediums\u2026Land, Air and Water\u2026thus decided to go by Ferry.<\/p>\n

Had to fetch a Ticket for the Ferry, to reach the counter one has to take an Inline Train, he reached a distance of 2 Kms in less than 30 seconds. Now u may wonder it was outside the Airport. I say no, I was inside the HK Airport. Since it was Hong Kong had to convert the currency to Hong Kong dollars to buy a ticket. Any currency you expect to be converted its none other than Travelex, once the ticket was bought I had to take a Bus to the Ferry terminus. The bus service was called as Sky Pier. Since the Bus to Ferry terminus was bit late, I was supposed to wait for 2 hrs in the Bus Lounge. It was a nice opportunity to roam around the malls, again went wild with my window shopping.<\/p>\n

Soon it stroke 2\u2019O clock in my watch, rushed to the bus lobby to board the bus. It was a gigantic Mercedes make bus. He dropped us at the Ferry terminus; finally we were out of Hong Kong Airport. It was an awesome travel again. Was enjoying listening to the honking of the ferry and there fellow members; we soon reached the destination in less than 40 minutes.<\/p>\n

It was around 3:00 PM CST, there was custom check at Shenzhen departure. Unfortunately the lady couldn\u2019t tally me with the one in the Passport. It took 10 minutes to confirm her that I was the same guy as in the passport. Gosh I had entered the Dragon\u2019s land escaping from Dragon\u2019s jaws\u2026:D, <\/p>\n

We boarded a taxi to Huawei City located in Bantian\u2026it took half an hour to enter the city. Roads are very much etched and buildings are posh\u2026Huawei city is almost in the outskirts of Shenzhen but still one cannot find its in outskirts. Finally entered the Huawei City\u2026I was dumbstuck\u2026totally lost for second time\u2026its simply huge\u2026u find ppl everywhere\u2026there are around 24-28 complexes in the campus\u2026one such were my Apartments; which was supposed to be found first. The taxi driver was lost tooo\u2026it took some time to make him understand how to go and where to go\u2026for obvious reason they are not familiar with 26 lettered language and are more familiar with 3,600 lettered language.<\/p>\n

Bingo!! Was the expression after dropping down\u2026rather drooping down\u2026:D, found all my colleague friends who were here. We were welcomed \u2018warmly\u2019 on a power-strip off day. I was given a room with number 351, was waiting for a key but got a card. Yeah it was my key to open the door of apartment. Nothing to worry, it works in the absence of power too\u2026I entered the room\u2026dropped the luggage\u2026<\/p>\n

This was the place I will be for next 6 months\u2026watta bed\u2026u never woke up once u sleep\u2026.:D, the apartments are very clean. We are entitled with hell a lot of facilities. Took a cold bath as it was pretty humid\u2026n had a nap\u2026then hit the roads of Shenzhen for first time. Before telling my adventure of Shenzhen strolling let me tell u about the view from my room\u2019s balcony. There is full of trees\/plants and then a road and a not so huge mountain on the other side. Can spend hours watching the place\/people walking down the streets. No coming back to Shenzhen strolling\u2026as it was Sunday my friends here usually go to Indian restaurant which is around 20 kms from our apartments. The hotel is called as Taj Restaurant\u2026not bad it tastes true Indian\u2026had Vada for the first time in China\u2026:D. I also had the privilege of viewing Wachanben. It\u2019s the SP road of Shenzhen, u find all damn electronics around here\u2026there are branded as well as unbranded. The best part I liked was the Mini-Bus service\u2026he takes juss 2 Yuans to take u to any part of the city. Isn\u2019t it great\u2026.one more special thing about this service is that\u2026there is no Bus-Stop as such\u2026.if u just whip ur hand in air\u2026he will stop for the service\u2026:D, imagine me whipping hand\u2026:D<\/p>\n

By the time we left back to our apartments it was around 11.30 in the night\u2026I was damn tired and it was also raining like hell\u2026.<\/p>\n

Juss went back and slept, woke up around 7:00 to realize it was morning. I couldn\u2019t have had a better First day in this short journey to Shenzhen.<\/p>\n

After all these I still say \u2018East or West\u2026India is The Best\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enter the Dragon\u2026 It was the D-day for me\u2026yeah it\u2019s about embarking on Chinese venture\u2026I reached Bangalore Airport at around 7.45 or 8.0. Thought it would be an easy go \u2018check-in\u2019\u2026but realized its not\u2026.only when I saw the mammoth queue landing in front of the baggage sign on\u2026it took time to complete of my formalities. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturestrands.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturestrands.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturestrands.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturestrands.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturestrands.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturestrands.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturestrands.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturestrands.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturestrands.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}