Exploring further from the border at Gankeng Hakka Town and Wanda Mall in Longgang, Shenzhen

Exploring further from the Hong Kong - Mainland border to see what's out there.  Saw this Gankeng Hakka Town (See 7) to be one of the top "things to do" in Shenzhen.  It's quite far from the border of Hong Kong.  It is about 1 hour on the taxi or about 2 hours on the subway.

No way would I waste 2 hours on the subway when getting a ride is only about 100 CNY.  So, after I crossed the border at Shenzhen Bay Port, I called for a ride with the AlipayHK app to Gankeng Hakka Town.  For the 1 hour ride, it was about 100 HKD.  Using various apps available to call for a ride is cheaper than hopping on a cab at the border by 30-50% from what people told me.

The gate of the town reminds me of Chinese tv series.

Once entered, there are shopping renting traditional style Chinese clothing hanfu.  Not sure about the price.  Hygiene is questionable and they just look too tacky.  Unlike people renting kimono in Japan or hanbok in South Korea, the people wearing these hanfu at the location all look very bad.  The way the costume, make up and hair is put together look more like a joke than a good memorable experience. 

There are many alleys in the town selling random touristy things.  Shops are all inside traditional looking buildings.

There is an alley for street food.

So many many people in such a small alley.

Food was somewhat cheap, but all questionable.  They have raw food out in the open when it was so hot.  Nothing covering it.  Feel like it was investing with bacteria and collecting dirt and dust out in the open.  The oil that they were frying food with stinks!  I walked passed a stall selling squid skewers that just smelled rotten.  Yet there were still people lining up to buy.

Some stalls were selling meat skewers that didn't look like real meat at all.  Sausages and meat were in neon colors and semi translucent.  Are people out of their mind to put those mysterious meat in their mouth?

Whatever is in this wrap is toxic....potion for a stomach ache.

Won't recommend eating street food in China unless you have a strong stomach.  Especially food that are oily.  There is seriously something wrong with the oil they use.  Guaranteed for an upset stomach.

Aside from the down part of the food, the town is interesting.  But still, there are lots of people and people do push around.  Crazy kids run wild.  Not very enjoying when there are so many people.

Was starving and couldn't find a descent looking place to sit down and eat.  And when I finally did find one with clean tables and chairs with air conditioning, it turns out they serve instant noodle for the price of the normal decent beef noodle.  The noodle itself probably cost 2 CNY, but the table, chair and air conditional cost 60 CNY.

The town looks prettier at night when the light and lanterns light up.  So, I guess that's why more people rushes into town after 5pm.  That's when I have had enough and just left.  Whatever the beauty is at night is not worth the exhaustion.

Saw there is a general's house 将军府 (See 8) that claims to be free for visit.  Turns out it was 3.9 CNY per person.  The display inside is pretty ghetto and very random.  But the architecture is nice to look at.  Very intricate design on the pillars and frames.

Then took the train to a nearby mall, Wanda Mall, that I thought would be nice.  Got off at Huanancheng Station which is about 10 minutes walk to the Wanda Mall (Shop 14).  

Getting out of the Huannancheng Station is the Huasheng Outlets Shopping Center (Shop 15).  The mall is pretty old looking.  Lights inside are dim and ghetto feeling.  Anyways, at the time I went, there is an outdoor market lined with food and gaming stalls.  The food again, looks suspicious.

This game stall disgust me.  Putting live animals in tiny cages and kids would throw hoops to win the animals as prize.  

This part of Shenzhen reminds me of the China I used to know.  Old and dirty. Lots of restaurants lined up on the street though.  

Finally got to Wanda (Shop 14).  Although it looks better than the other malls in the area, it's still far from the malls in the Nanshan area.  But atleast this malls looks bright and clean.  Not a luxury mall, so things are affordable.

Still find inhumane shops in this mall.  Horses are available inside the mall for riding.  Such a tiny space.

There is also a shop that has many animals inside for kids to play with.  Again, very small space.

There doesn't seem to be any good restaurants that caught my eyes there.  Perhaps because the mall has restaurants and stores that are very affordable, the restaurants had long line ups.  At the end, chose a Korean restaurant with the shortest queue for dinner.

Really affordable menu.  Even cheaper when voucher is bought for set dinner.

The inside looks nice too.

The side dishes were just sad.  It looks like they were left overs.

The food was ok though.  Nothing amazing, but edible.

To end the day, tried out the claw machines in the mall.

Got myself a larva.

Will not want to go back to the east side of Shenzhen again.  Didn't have any good experience outside of the Nanshan area.  Just too ghetto feeling.  The group of people outside of Nanshan are just too different. 

Points on map:

See 7 - Gankeng Hakka Townlet 甘坑古镇

深圳市龙岗区布吉新区吉华街道甘坑社区甘李路18号

See 8 - General's House 将军府

深圳市龙岗区秀峰立交与G15沈海高速交叉口西北500米

Shop 14 - Wanda Mall 万达广场(华南城店)

深圳市龙岗区华南二道1号

Shop 15 - Huasheng Outlets Shopping Center 深圳华盛奥特莱斯店

深圳市龙岗区华南大道1号