Just coming from relaxed and slow-paced Taipei, Hong Kong feels quite stressful. People everywhere, it’s impossible to move around fast. Getting to the hotel is quite the act as well: there is always a line for the elevator, just getting up to the 15^th floor takes up to half an hour as people are queuing. And the hotel rooms – they barely fit a bed and that’s it. I guess the feeling that describes Hong Kong the best would be “cramped”. Where rents are as high as the skyline, making use of the available space in the most efficient way is crucial. Even the trams are two-storied, kind of cute but really necessary.

And somehow, there is not much to do here than spending money. Dining out at one of the many fabulous restaurants. Shopping centers everywhere. Just walking around the city, I find myself amidst of a shopping center again. Expensive shops, one is showcasing a gold chain with pigs stacked on top of each other. So ridiculous, and yet there must be people buying it. Even on the peak, where it takes about an hour to get up to, you’ll find a shopping center – a not even a small one, including a Madame Tussaud’s. As if there isn’t anything better to do on the highest mountain of the entire area. Consumerism everywhere – how can all those shops and centers even sustain themselves? Luckily, there are hiking paths, lots of islands and beaches close by to escape to and I immediately understand how desperately these are needed in a metropole like this.

Consumerism everywhere – how can all those shops and centers even sustain themselves?

Walking down the trail from the peak, we are passing fancy-looking apartment buildings that are so high I always lose track counting the floors. Porsches and Lamborghinis are cruising into the parking lot, maids are taking fluffy dogs for a walk. This is where the rich and beautiful live – probably those who would buy the golden pig chain, just because. Again, I’m stunned by the fact that some people can make that much money with their jobs while others, probably equally hard-working, are stuck in the lower salary class. I’m curious how much the rent in this area would be if a regular room (or rather a show box) for regular people already costs more than 1000 Euro per month.

However, Hong Kong definitely has a Western influence: internationls and expats everywhere, and you can see and feel the former British presence with its many pubs and left-hand traffic. Somewhat independent and more open, wherever a Chinese flag is raised, the Hong Kong flag is right next to it to underline that this region is special and not Mainland China.

We decide to make the trip over to Shenzhen, Mainland China, as we are curious why Lonely Planet ranks this city second on the list of ‘top 10 cities to visit in 2019′, and to see what it’s like just a few miles away from Hong Kong. Even though they are kind of the same country, it’s completely different, starting with the entry procedures. Entry into Hong Kong was easy for a European. Entry into Shenzhen requires a visa, which you can get at the border after waiting an hour or two. After obtaining the big sticker in the passport that lets us explore Shenzhen only, we are finally on the way out to the city. A few steps out of the terminal and we are already asked for our photo. No more Google Maps to help us navigate around or Messenger besides the omnipresent WeChat to use. English-speaking people are scarce. Change of currency to bills that are displaying the plump visage of Mao. People are bluntly staring at us, spitting on the relatively new streets that are decorated with plenty of surveillance cameras. They probably can’t wait to get started with the Social Credit System (or have they already?) where every of the citizens’ movements will be tracked and evaluated into a social score.

Just a few steps away from Hong Kong, it’s a completely different world.

Shenzhen was built from out of nothing. Not too long ago, it was only a fishing village, when in 1979 it was decided that Shenzhen should become an economic megacity. And it did. People from all parts of China were flocking into Shenzhen, enticed by the prospects of the first capitalistic window to the world, making it to one of the fastest-growing cities of all times.

We are heading to the observation deck of the Meridian View Centre to grasp the massive size in a 360 degree view. Skyscrapers wherever you look, and Hong Kong in the distance. We can’t help but notice that Chinese like to show off and create superlatives in whatever way possible: right here, the highest post office service in the world! In a few years, our port will be even bigger than the one in Hong Kong! Shenzhen is the next Silicon Valley! As if they felt the urge to constantly prove something or compete with its famous neighbour. China is so proud of its economic and architectural miracle whereas we can’t get rid of the feeling that it lacks history and a soul.

The most interesting attraction a little further out is probably the Dafen Oil Painting Village. That place that you might have seen in featured videos that is known for Chinese artists copying famous paintings. You can find a lot of Van Gogh’s flower still life at every corner that could be the original version, as well as Monet’s rugged landscapes and Klimt’s kiss. Artists right at work, holding their phone with the picture they want to paint in one hand, their brush in the other, sometimes smoking a cigarette simultaneously. However, you can also see artists increasingly making their own creations and it’s wonderful to see that originality is demanded as well. It feels like walking through a big open-air art gallery.

It’s wonderful to see that originality is demanded as well.

On the way to the terminal to take the fast train back to Hong Kong that only takes 14 minutes, suddenly all the skyscrapers around us start illuminating. Glowing in communicstic red, with patriotic music playing while 中国 (China) is shaping up in big letters on the façades. Just a sublte reminder where you are, if you have forgotten. The light show goes on for 15 minutes, and all buildings in the surrounding are participating in this coordinated spectacle. It’s quite a show and yet, we haven’t heard about it anywhere and just stumbled upon it. People around us don’t seem to be very impressed, they are probably used to it. I’m fascinated, thinking that would never work in my home country as equipping all buildings with enough bulbs and getting them in synch would probably not be possible to just dictate there, not to mention the revulsion it would cause to be that patriotic – another “only in China” moment.

We are not convinced of Lonely Planet’s top ranking of Shenzhen, but simply going for a visit to Mainland China when having the chance is always good for an adventure. However, I’m relieved that this trip is coming to an end and was only for a day as it’s utterly exhausting to be here and frustrating at times. Cannot wait to head back to my favourite China: Taiwan, where people are friendly, the atmosphere is relaxed and down to earth without crazy superlatives and absurdities.