Chinese Blog

Yesterday was a fun-filled day.  I went 潜水 (scuba diving) complete with a 氧气瓶 (oxygen tank) strapped to my back, rode a 摩托艇 (jet ski) and even went up on a 帆伞 (parasail).  The 沙滩 (beach) tourism industry in Shenzhen is alive and well, especially at 大梅沙 (Dameisha) where I was.  The activity that took the most getting used to was the scuba diving, as your 耳朵 (ears) would be miserable from the pressure unless you performed the Valsalva maneuver to reduce the 压力 (pressure) from the water.  All of this cost about 300RMB (~45USD) for a 套票 (set ticket), certainly 划得来 (economical) if you ask me!

潜水 qian2shui3 – scuba diving
氧气瓶 yang2qi4ping2 – oxygen tank
摩托艇 mo2tuo1ting2 – jet ski
沙滩 sha1tan1 – beach
大梅沙 da4mei3sha1 – Dameisha (Maysa) beach
耳朵 er3duo1 – ears
压力 ya1li4 – pressure
帆伞 fan1san3 – parasail
套票 tao4piao4 – set ticket
划得来 hua2delai2 – economical

Hello readers!

One rite of passage of moving to Shenzhen is visiting Hong Kong.  One way to do it is over the border at 罗湖 (Luo Hu).  There, the daily 人流量 (flow of people) surpasses 三万 (30,000) for workers alone.  Fortunately, a lot of the process has 电子化 (gone electronic).  People with 回乡证 (“return to the village” permits) are processed differently from those with China passports .  I had a runny nose going through the border, and I admit that my pulse quickened when someone came over to 测温 (take my temperature).  That there is 一大堆 (a big pile) of immigrations papers to fill out before you enter your 通道 (lane) is not very 环保 (environmentally friendly) if you ask me.  A lot of paper could be saved if there were some other way to process entering people.  The number of stamps required for each trip has made it such that I’ve already had to 加页 (add pages) to my passport once.

罗湖 luo2hu2 – Luohu – a border checkpoint along the Hong Kong/Shenzhen border
人流量 ren2liu2liang4 – volume of people passing through
三万 san1wan4 – 30,000
电子化 dian4zi3hua4 – making something electronic
回乡证 hui2xiang1zheng4 – a document for Hong Kong natives to enter the mainland
测温 ce4wen1 – take a temperature
一大堆 yi2(1)da4dui1 – a huge pile
通道 tong1dao4 – lane (used for customs lines)
环保 huan2bao3 – environmentally friendly
加页 jia1ye4 – add pages