From Learning Cantonese Blog:
Welcome to Shenzhen, the Tijuana of Asia.
Yesterday my friend Leslie, a Korean-American who’s my oldest pal in Hong Kong, invited me on a perilous journey through the Lo Wu Seung Yihp Sehng, ground zero of the Global Fake Handbag Trade. I have been to Shenzhen exactly once, to have dim sum at the Shangri-la hotel, and I didn’t even set a toe inside the mega-shopping complex that is the target destination for millions of Hong Kongers crossing the border in search of bargains, Lo Wu Commercial City.
Even if you don’t live in HK, you’ve probably heard about Shenzhen, the economic miracle “new town” just across the Hong Kong border, that hardly existed 30 years ago. Like most border towns–Tijuana, or Ciudad del Este, Paraguay–Shenzhen is where you go to do things that you can’t do in the bold light of day in Hong Kong. Here you’ll find the exploitative labor practices that won’t be tolerated on this side of the razor fence, and the mistresses that won’t be tolerated by the Hong Kong wife (or, perhaps, by your political party).[Full Text]
