Friday, March 14, 2008
Shajiner
Last Sunday, I went to Shenzhen Shajin to visit Gibson's granny. It's my 3rd time in Shajin and this trip I took the time and keen interest to observe the people, the place and happening.
I saw young people playing mahjong, men playing snooker in front of houses, people happily chewing sugar cane and freely spitting the leftover on the street as they walked, busy streets with vendors and shoppers. Shopping malls and shops selling apparel that is as fashionable as those in Hong Kong. We stood on the road waiting for local bus with other passengers, occupying the whole lane nearest to the pavement, a young lady in her factory uniform (Johnson Electric), squatting besides us, reading her magazine oblivious of her surroundings. The whole Shajin is almost a construction site – lots of noises (knocking, drilling) and dusts. While we sat in an express Shajin-Luowu bus waiting for it to move, a man came up to ask who has yet to purchase the ticket from the ticket counter. A passenger raised his hand and he alighted to do so. A few seconds later (which was 5pm sharp), the bus driver drove on without that passenger and he drove on despite our calling him to stop and wait as that passenger's belonging was still on the bus!
Shajin is only 1hour bus ride from Luowu-Hong Kong border and many local Shajin-ers visit Hong Kong once in a while. While they copy Hong Kong's fashion, will they also copy Hong Konger's mannerism? I hope they try to do so. But is Shajin-er better than Hong Konger – well, that bus driver is very steadfast in his duty that he has to start the bus on time regardless.
In case, you are curious about the fate of that passenger's belonging – a few minutes after the bus left, the driver received a call on his mobile and we heard something like 'collect at Luowu terminal'. Certainly Shenzhen has a unique transport system!
I saw young people playing mahjong, men playing snooker in front of houses, people happily chewing sugar cane and freely spitting the leftover on the street as they walked, busy streets with vendors and shoppers. Shopping malls and shops selling apparel that is as fashionable as those in Hong Kong. We stood on the road waiting for local bus with other passengers, occupying the whole lane nearest to the pavement, a young lady in her factory uniform (Johnson Electric), squatting besides us, reading her magazine oblivious of her surroundings. The whole Shajin is almost a construction site – lots of noises (knocking, drilling) and dusts. While we sat in an express Shajin-Luowu bus waiting for it to move, a man came up to ask who has yet to purchase the ticket from the ticket counter. A passenger raised his hand and he alighted to do so. A few seconds later (which was 5pm sharp), the bus driver drove on without that passenger and he drove on despite our calling him to stop and wait as that passenger's belonging was still on the bus!
Shajin is only 1hour bus ride from Luowu-Hong Kong border and many local Shajin-ers visit Hong Kong once in a while. While they copy Hong Kong's fashion, will they also copy Hong Konger's mannerism? I hope they try to do so. But is Shajin-er better than Hong Konger – well, that bus driver is very steadfast in his duty that he has to start the bus on time regardless.
In case, you are curious about the fate of that passenger's belonging – a few minutes after the bus left, the driver received a call on his mobile and we heard something like 'collect at Luowu terminal'. Certainly Shenzhen has a unique transport system!
