Day 2 - Into the Wild Red Yonder

I awoke to the roar of jets taking off from the Hong Kong International Airport. The first picture is of the airport from my hotel window. About 9:30 a.m. (8:30 p.m. central time) I took the shuttle bus into mainland China. To enter China from Hong Kong, everyone must pass through Chinese customs (in spite of HK being part of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). I chuckled to myself when the Chinese customs agent looked at my expired visa (I have a new one) and proceeded to stamp the page next to it to let me pass.

After driving to Shenzhen, the first stop was my hotel. I was pleasantly surprised that they were welcoming me by rolling out the red carpet. Unfortunately, I found out later that it was for the Prime Minister of China and the Prime Minister of Australia. Apparently they were having an economic summit at the hotel.

I then proceeded to travel to my supplier and get to work. The second picture is of the fountain/fish pond in front of their main office. They must have 20 Koy of all colors and sizes. About 3:00 p.m. (2:00 a.m. central) I hit the wall and called it a day. The rest of the evening was a daze, but I do remember walking around a huge shopping area near the hotel in the pouring rain (did I mention it is the rainy season here?). All of the walking areas are paved in granite. Since I still had my slippery dress shoes on, I could only walk heel-to-toe baby steps. Even worse, when I made it to my favorite black-market DVD store I found it was replaced by a tea cafe'. After a good cry, I somehow made it back to the hotel.