We spent one day in Shenzhen. It is on the border next to Hong Kong. Thirty five years ago when we visited Hong Kong, we took a tour into the New Territories and looked over into what was then referred to as "Red" China. The poor little village we saw was Shenzhen. Since then it has developed into one of China's richest cities with a population of 10 milliion people. It is sort of a suburb of Hong Kong--meaning people live here and work across the border. This is a whole yard of construction equipment--acres and acres. Shenzhen is a growing city.
The only place we visited in Shenzhen was a theme park that had two sides. One side was a miniature China--sort of like Madurodam in Holland for those of you who have been there. The other side was called China Folk Culture Villages. This is like the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii. The story is that some Chinese officials visited the PCC, were impressed and decided that China needed something like that so the minorities in China could display their ethnic dances, clothes, homes, etc. China is 92% Han Chinese with 56 ethnic groups making up the other 8%. Southwest China is home to many of these groups and we enjoyed visiting them and learning about their culture. Here in Shenzhen we could see many of them without getting on a bus. The following pictures were taken at the China Folk Culture Villages.
The dragon welcomed us and the place was decorated extensively with lanterns, flowers, and assorted colorful streamers to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
A dancer from western China. Note the Indian influence in the costume and the long gold artificial nails.
Unfortunately, I did not take notes about which culture was in which picture. So you will have to just enjoy the pictures without much comment.
We saw this instrument and costume at the cultural village and were pleasantly surprised to see the same costumes later as we toured in southwest China. I think the instrument looked and sounded like an old fashioned washboard.
Women dancing to the music played by the above musician.
We saw several inside shows. This one was from the northern part of China.
This is a dance from the Uigher area of China. We saw this area last fall on our trip along the Silk Road.
Perhaps the most impressive show we saw was in a big arena. It was put on by the Mongolian minority. As you can see the costumes certainly gave a feel of Ghengis Khan and his thundering hoards. The riders staged a mock battle and their displays of horsemanship were amazing. I had heard about the riding ability of Mongols but it was spectacular to see.
Preparing for the mock battle.
Along with all the shows, there were displays of artifacts. Here Jim is trying his hand at a grinding machine. Not an easy job.
After spending the day in Shenzhen we went on to Hong Kong for our midwinter conference.
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