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Currently I'm in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China and experiencing the power of the Great Chinese Firewall, as Livejournal is banned here in mainland China, as well as Youtube, Facebook and other dangerous web pages.
Shenzhen is located just behind the border with Hong Kong, just like Ciudad Juarez is behind El Paso. The metro of both cities is even run by the same company, and you basically cross the border via subway. You go till the end station of Hong Kong metro, then pass Hong Kong immigration, then pass Chinese immigration, then pass taxi-riebiata-niedoroho-kuda-yekhat-nado-in Chinese, and you end up in Shenzhen metro with fucking ticket machines accepting only 5 and 10 Yuan notes. I gave 100 note with Mao Zedong face on it to the cashier, and he gave me back a shitload of 5 and 10 Yuan notes with Mao Zedong face on them. I then inspected my wallet and found that all Chinese notes have Mao Zedong face on them.
That was a first sign of pravoslavie in this country. The second sign was reading on my immigration card: "persons not staying in hotels should register with local police station within 24 hours." I asked my friends if I should really go and register with the police, and they told me that fucking myself with both hands covered with hot chilly sauce would be greater investment of time and efforts. The severity of the laws are compensated by their non-obligatority, you know that.
So, is China that different from Hong Kong? Well, it is. Driving is on the right here, but nobody seems to care about this fact. Motorbikes on the sidewalks, chaotic bi-bi-bi style movement of vehicles and pedestrians, that gives a city a unique atmosphere. And a shitload of druzhynnyk-style police officers doing nothing, just like in Kiev or Moscow.
So far, so good.
Shenzhen is located just behind the border with Hong Kong, just like Ciudad Juarez is behind El Paso. The metro of both cities is even run by the same company, and you basically cross the border via subway. You go till the end station of Hong Kong metro, then pass Hong Kong immigration, then pass Chinese immigration, then pass taxi-riebiata-niedoroho-kuda-yekhat-nado-in Chinese, and you end up in Shenzhen metro with fucking ticket machines accepting only 5 and 10 Yuan notes. I gave 100 note with Mao Zedong face on it to the cashier, and he gave me back a shitload of 5 and 10 Yuan notes with Mao Zedong face on them. I then inspected my wallet and found that all Chinese notes have Mao Zedong face on them.
That was a first sign of pravoslavie in this country. The second sign was reading on my immigration card: "persons not staying in hotels should register with local police station within 24 hours." I asked my friends if I should really go and register with the police, and they told me that fucking myself with both hands covered with hot chilly sauce would be greater investment of time and efforts. The severity of the laws are compensated by their non-obligatority, you know that.
So, is China that different from Hong Kong? Well, it is. Driving is on the right here, but nobody seems to care about this fact. Motorbikes on the sidewalks, chaotic bi-bi-bi style movement of vehicles and pedestrians, that gives a city a unique atmosphere. And a shitload of druzhynnyk-style police officers doing nothing, just like in Kiev or Moscow.
So far, so good.
