New home in Huizhou

It's been two weeks since we moved to Huizhou. We moved two days before Chinese New Year... just in the nick of time. In China, for the new year holiday or Spring Festival as it is also called here, the whole country shuts down for at least two weeks. Kids have a month off from school, businesses close their doors and everyone heads for their home town for some restful family time. So we were very lucky to find a willing driver to take us, and all our stuff, to our new home. It cost us 800RMB, but he said it would've cost us 2,000 if it was a day later. Chinese New Year is serious business here!

Packed and ready.

Loading up the moving truck.

Driving out of Shenzhen.

Arriving in Huizhou, the city of rivers and bridges.

Our new home, building 304-4.

Unloaded into the lobby.

Our new home is gigantic. Compared to our 35 square metre apartment in Shenzhen it's a whopping 110 square metres, and two thirds of the price to boot. We are styling! There's  space to walk around, there's a living room with a tv and a couch that comfortably seats more than two, there's an actual kitchen with a gas stove and double sinks, a beautiful master bedroom with king-size bed and bay window with a view overlooking the river, a spare bedroom for guests, and an extra room for my office and studio space. Aaahhh... room to breathe!

My studio room.

Bay window in the master bedroom.

View outside our bedroom window.

The new place is spacious and lovely. The neighbourhood is peaceful, clean and friendly. So, what's next? Well, as I said, it was Chinese New Year when we arrived here. My plan was to take the holiday time to explore the city and see what's about, but with everything shut it almost seemed pointless. Chinese shops are not like western shops. They have a garage door front so when they're closed there's no chance of window shopping. So we couldn't scope out the neighbourhood as far as shops and businesses were concerned. We've been out exploring in other ways though, finding local food markets and looking for interesting parts of town. We live right across the street from the river and there's a pathway that runs for miles along the riverside.

The riverside, across the road from our building.

One of many bridges in Huizhou.

An old part of town.

One day I went out exploring on my own. I went for a bike ride along the river. It’s quite lovely. Along the way I discovered areas of what I like to call “old China.” There were vegetable patches along the riverside, tended by men and women carrying buckets suspended from poles balanced across their shoulders, filled with water to feed their gardens. And in the background of this idyllic river scene are apartment towers and more buildings under construction. The paradox is striking. I've always loved the contrast of old and new in society, but here in China it's much more extreme. From people dwelling in shacks and boats along the river to comparatively decadent apartment dwellers.

Down by the river I came across houseboats and live-aboards that made my heart skip a beat. I felt a pang of envy, and wished I could meet the people living and working on them.

Letting the light shine through.

Fishing on a sunny afternoon.

Moving to Huizhou where there's a river to swim in.

After months of contemplation and deliberation, Peter and I have decided to leave Shenzhen and move to a city just 69 kms northeast of here called Huizhou. It's a much smaller city with a population of only five million verses Shenzhen's fifteen million.

The city's motto is: A city to benefit people. Before even moving there we can see several benefits. One, living costs are one third of the price of those in Shenzhen, where we've been living in a tiny, 35 square meter studio apartment for 3,000 RMB a month. (When we moved in a year and a half ago the rent was 2,500 but after six months our greedy landlords wanted to raise it to 3,500 RMB. We talked them down to 3,000 by pointing out the many flaws in the apartment, such as cracked bathroom counter, trickling bathroom faucet, loose kitchen faucet, broken bed, tiny fridge, old A/C that doesn't keep up with the hot summer heat, and worst of all, a moldy leaking ceiling. Peter, with his brilliant Chinese language skills, left the landlords little room for negotiation and eventually they gave in.) In Huizhou we can get a beautiful three-bedroom apartment for 2,000 RMB a month. Food is cheaper, transportation is cheaper, the air is cleaner... what's not to like? Oh, and best of all there are lakes and rivers that are clean enough to swim in. Sold!! Summer's here are so hot and humid and the beaches are miles out of town, or across the border in Hong Kong. Living in a place where I can ride my bike to the beach and swim will make a world of difference.

So... today we are hopping on a bus to Huizhou where our friend, Amy, will meet us and take us to see an apartment which we hope will be our new home. (I forgot to mention we have four friends in Huizhou - Sten, Amy, and their two kids Ruby and Vincent.) We need to move out of our Shenzhen apartment the day after tomorrow. We've hired a driver to move us, and our small amount of belongings,to Huizhou on Saturday afternoon, so we hope to find a new home in Huizhou today.  It's really happening! It's a little bit sad to be leaving our good friends behind, but we just remind ourselves that Shenzhen is only a two hour bus ride away; we can visit easily. Speaking of bus rides, it's time to go catch one, so I'll sign off for now....

The next day....
Here we are on the bus to Huizhou:

Huizhou bound!

Lunch stop, Peter and Amy.

Amy picked us up at the bustling bus station and took us to meet our apartment-hunting agent. She showed us two places and we chose one of them. We went back to the agency office to sign the papers and then she found one more place for us to look at. Coincidentally, the owner of the apartment just so happened to be Amy's daughter's English teacher. Small world! The apartment is in a "garden," which means housing complex or group of apartment buildings. It makes for a quieter neighbourhood, and they often have outdoor swimming pools... which this place has!

It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday, the first sunny day we'd had in a while, so there was laundry and bedding basking in the sun everywhere. The swimming pool especially!

About the apartment, it's 101 square meters, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a good size deck overlooking the pool, clean and newer than most places. We decided this was it! So we went back to the office and signed papers with the agent and the English teacher. Done deal. Went for a drink at our new local coffee shop/ music bar, then hopped on a bus back home to Shenzhen. And that's how it's done!

Meanwhile, back in our neighbourhood in Dongjiaotou, Shenzhen, the lead-up to Chinese New Year is in full swing. Our little corner is a flurry of action. We stopped for some sizzling beef and potatoes at the Goose Shop on the corner, which has been one our favourite eating spots for the past year and a half, and contemplated an end of an era and taking the leap into a new one.

Our soon-to-be old neighbourhood in Dongjiaotou.

Our favourite Goose Shop on the corner.

One of many temporary stalls selling festive Chinese New Year decorations.

One year later....

Jeeze, has it really been that long since I wrote? Time sure does fly, especially in China. So much can happen in such a short period of time. I passed my one year mark of living in China three months ago today. Sometimes it still seems so surreal to me to be living here in this faraway land. I find myself walking down the street, trying to imagine the sights and sounds with fresh eyes and ears, as if I'd just arrived. It has become everyday life now, and the element of surprise is becoming less and less. That said, there are awesome sights and I still stop in my tracks sometimes, just to take in what I am seeing. The other day I traveled half way across the city to visit my American friend, Zack. We decided to meet for a walkabout at Shenzhen's 'Shopping Park' metro stop. This is the location of Shenzhen's Ping An Finance Centre, a 115-storey mega skyscraper, currently under construction. Upon completion, it will rank as the world's 4th tallest building. It is truly awesome to stand beneath this towering beacon, and to look up to the top where a crane is stationed and where pieces of building materials fall and drift to the ground. Safety is not taken half as seriously here in China.