Nearly three weekends ago, Liebling and I went away for the weekend to Shenzhen, China. Actually, let me rephrase that. Three weekends ago, Liebling and I went away for the weekend to the Shangri-La Hotel, located in Shenzhen, China. Confused? You’ll see what I mean later.
Shenzhen is a city on the Chinese mainland about an hour away by train from Hong Kong.
Never heard of Shenzhen? It’s not very nice. People familiar with the city will tell you that Shenzhen is not the prettiest of places. It is large, dirty, and often grey. It is not ideal for sightseeing.
Shenzhen is actually popular with people from Hong Kong because there are many bargains to be had in the large shopping centres there. These sprawling mega-malls house tailors, brick-a-brack vendors, eyeglass makers, and a number of independant hustlers who are eager to draw you into a back room to sell you everything from pirated DVDs to leather goods to designer knock-offs. You can seemingly get everything under the sun here, and at way cheaper prices than in expensive Hong Kong.
Liebling and I, however, were not interested in the shopping. Instead, our main reason for going to Shenzhen was to have a relaxing and indulgent weekend away from fever pitch pace of Hong Kong.
To that end, I booked one night’s stay at the Shenzhen Shangri-La Hotel. It had come highly recommended by friends.
So, on an overcast Saturday morning, we boarded the Hong Kong metro (MTR) and started our hour-long journey to the Chinese border.
Upon our arrival in Shenzhen, we went straight to the hotel. Upon entering we were just a little intimidated by the massive lobby.
The woman at the reception told us that for a nominal fee we could upgrade our room to “Horizon Club” status… So, being the prima donnas we are, we said “why not?!?” Staying in the Horizon Club section of the hotel meant that we would get a room with a view on the highest floor of the hotel and access to…well…the Horizon Club, where we could indulge in a complimentary tea time and happy hour if we so desired. We would also be accorded a late checkout the next day- we wouldn’t be obliged to leave the room until 3pm! Score! I was excited to get into our room and see what it was like.
While our 28th floor room wasn’t the most opulent I have ever seen, it was large (by Chinese standards) and we did indeed have a pretty decent view. I was impressed by the bed, which was a true king size and not two double mattresses wedged together on a king sized frame.
We had been told that tea time was from 2 to 4pm. After arriving at the hotel at around 2pm and promptly napping until 4:30pm, we realized that tea time would no longer be an option. But happy hour was to start at 5pm. So we descended one floor to the Horizon Club’s lounge and took advantage of all the treats on offer. It was pretty impressive. There was everything from chicken satay skewers to veggie dumplings to squares of raspberry mousse cake. Drinks were also complimentary so Liebling made himself a shandy (beer mixed with Sprite), while I downed a Diet Coke and chased it with a peppermint tea. As the food was unlimited, we filled our stomachs almost to the point of feeling sick.
Stuffed and sedentary, we decided to leave the safe haven of our hotel and venture out into Shenzhen itself. We didn’t get very far. About 400 meters from the hotel is the Lo Wu Shopping Centre. We went in and laughed as vendors tried to solicit our business by any means necessary. At times we were followed from store to store by vendors trying to sell us everything from pirated DVDs to massages to laser mole removal. Liebling went on a nearly fruitless search for cufflinks. I had fun snapping his picture as he tried to bargain with a shopkeeper.
After a walk around the shopping centre we finally took one of the vendors who was following us up on their offer and went into their store for a foot massage. At 30 RMB ($4.50 USD) for an hour-long foot massage, who could say no?
After our shopping adventure, we went back to our hotel. Upon entering the hotel lobby, we spotted a cover band who serenaded hotel patrons with a spot on rendition of Bruno Mars’ “Nothing On You”.
I took the opportunity to snap more photos of the hotel’s decor.
Parched, we then decided to go to the hotel’s 360 restaurant for a drink, which is located on the top floor and reknowned for its stunning 360-degree views of the Shenzhen skyline. While I didn’t find the skyline that impressive, I still enjoyed the lights, and enjoyed the restaurant itself, as the decor was sleek and modern.
Old fogies that we are, we headed back to our room for an early night, but not before we ordered the reasonably priced room service. The room service menu had a large selection of meals to choose from.
The next morning we had a late breakfast at one of the hotel’s restaurant. The buffet was huge, with a section of Western breakfast offerings and another section dedicated exclusively to Asian offerings. I loaded up on the croissants from the bakery and polished off a huge omelette.
After breakfast, we lazed about in our room until the 3pm checkout time. We opened up the curtains and I once again took in the view from our 28th floor window and bugged Liebling to take my picture. We almost thought about leaving the hotel and heading to Hong Kong when we realized that it was tea time- why not stick around and have complimentary tea and snacks before leaving?!
We checked out and once again filled our already full stomachs with more food in the Horizon Club lounge. The servers, despite knowing we had already checked out, plied us with hors d’oeuvres and hot beverages.
Soon, though, it came time to leave the hotel. We headed over to the Lo Wu shopping centre one last time to see if we could get some last-minute deals, but shopping was a bust. But no matter. Happy, relaxed, and with full stomachs, we boarded the train and headed back to Hong Kong.
And so ended our getaway to Shenzhen, where we spent nearly 85% of our stay in our hotel. It was a great weekend of doing not much of anything at all, which was just what we needed!
49 Comments
That weekend away looks exactly right. Relaxing and indulgent. Bliss! I kind of heard a while ago that Shenzhen is kind of gross to visit also.
I enjoyed reading about your adventure! I found your blog from jet setting diva!
love it. I would so love something like that now.
awesome! sounds like my kind of vacay. do elaborate on this bruno mars covering band–i'm intrigued!
Just like a "stay-cation"! Sometimes that is the best!
@Rhona: "Relaxing and indulgent" is my middle name… Well, not really. But it should be!
@Laura: Thanks for reading!!! I hope that you'll stick around for more!
@kimvan: Girl, yes! I'm praying for you over there!
@Rania: The band was amazing! I didn't have the chance to talk to them, but they were covering a whole bunch of popular songs, including the Bruno Mars track. Wish I knew what the band was called!
@Opal: Agreed!
There is only one thing better than shopping in Hong Kong, and that's eating. From small noodle joints to upscale French restaurant, you will locate all sorts of restaurant, eating hall and snack stall on earth in Hong Kong. Here I found small amount of Hong-Kong-styled snacks online (http://yummiexpress.freetzi.com/). This is definitely a good choice before I have $ for another trip.
@Bette: I agree! That's definitely one of the good points about Hong Kong!
Magnificent place I’ve ever seen (only in internet)! I’m studying hard in school to be able to go for that place. That is my ideal place for an adventure.
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