China: ShenZhen Theme Park Tour Part I

ShenZhen Metro Map(source)

This map does not show all the metro stations. For a complete map, please click on the source link. There are also many constructions on going in ShenZhen, do visit ShenZhen Metro Website for latest updates.

The high speed train from GuangZhou stopped at ShenZhen railway station which was connected to their Metro Station,LuoHu(罗湖站). From there, we took metro to our hotel which was strategically located next to ZhuZiLin station(竹子站). Another reason we picked this hotel because it was only 3 stations away from Window of the World(世界之窗） and 2 stations away from Splendid China/Culture Village(锦绣中华/文化村）.

The hotel's yellow sign, "如家快捷酒店", HomeInn Hotel was very easy to spot once we stepped out from the station. Yes, we stayed in another HomeInn branch, HomeInn ShenZhen ZhuZhilin branch(如家深圳竹子林店）. Since we have paid RMB40 for the member card, we wanted to make the most out of it. :)

Read more about HomeInn in my GuangZhou post.

the reception

Room View 1

Room View 2

common area at the level of our room

ZhuZhi(竹子) means bamboo in Chinese

Once we were done with hotel room, we headed straight to the lunch place. Luckily the planned lunch place was just 5 minutes walk from our hotel.

The restaurant was behind this China bank(中国光大银行). Even though it was in the same building, but there was not shortcut from here and we had to turn to the back of the building using the main road.

BaiWeiJia(佰味佳客家) was a restaurant serving delicious Hakka dishes.

appetizers

Most of our orders was from this menu page, the chef's recommendation.

The waitress was serving the farm pork soup(农家猪肉汤). The soup was very tasty and the serving was very big, good enough for 6 person.

We also ordered their shallot chicken(葱油鸡 ), which was not so commonly seen in other restaurants.

Three-cup Hakka duck(客家三杯鸭） was also a dish above average.

Almost every table would order this Claypot Bean Curd (生让豆腐煲).

Even though this was never the focus(we had all meat lovers in our groups), but it was nicely done too.

Big thumbs up for their rice too. I managed to finish one big bowl.

We were all astounded by the deliciousness of the dishes and cleared everything in no time.

Before we left, we saw other table with this Chinese bun, mantou(馒头) and it looked so tasty. So, we took away 1/2 dozen, one for each person.

The marketing of Window of the World said "You give me a day, I give you the world.(您给我一天,我给您一个世界)" and we were all attracted. The entrance ticket was RMB120, but we were giving some discount.(read more)

This 480,000sq meter theme park had over 130 world famous scenic spots. Are you scared by the numbers? Scare not, there were many types of transportation if you did not wish to walk a lot.

For example the overhead monorail train we took was charged at RMB20/person. The normal ground bus which we did not take was charged at another RMB20/person. But for RMB45/person, you would get both plus the ticket to the top of Eiffel tower. For tourists who like to stop and take pictures frequently, self-drive double seats electronic car would be a better choice. Price was not cheap, RMB50/0.5hour, RMB90/hr and RMB150/2hrs for weekdays, and weekend price was even higher.

At the end of the day, 7pm(time may vary according to season, double check with the ticket counter), there would a grand entertaining performance on an open stage near the entrance. Again, the good seats were not free. I think they were making good money besides the entrance ticket.

Many might question how long to spend in Window of the World. I had the same question myself before the trip. But at the end, I decided to enter the theme park after a good lunch(2-3pm) and leave after the night performance(8-9pm). That was already like 6 hours in the park. We spent 3 hours visiting the scenic spots and managed to finish almost all of them. Then it was getting dark(time may vary according to season) and we had to stop. Unless you want to have a very in-depth visit to cover all the small performances as well, else I feel that there is no need to spend one whole day in the park. We took some rest, finished off the Chinese bun(and some snacks too) while waiting at the open stage .

The pyramid of Louvre, France was actually the Metro exit.

Dinner(to be precise, supper) was 15minutes walk from our hotel. We felt that it was a bit far compare to the lunch we had, but we had no regret after we tried it. :)

It was very dark and quiet outside Dong Yuen Bo(东园博), but it was a totally different world inside.

Mu Wu BBQ(木屋烧烤) was one of the restaurant in Dong Yuen Bo(东园博).

We were served groundnut once we were seated.

This open air restaurant had very good business.

Enlarge to read the menu and price if you can read Chinese. If not, you could just follow what I had ordered. :)

Not everybody like to prepare barbecued food and clean the mess after the party. And not everybody like to sweat in front of the charcoal fire and end up eating some burnt outside but rare inside meat.

Therefore I was totally convinced by the concept of this restaurant, where customers could sit back and enjoy perfectly barbecued food at hawkler price. At Mu Wu BBQ, everything could be barbecued, meat, seafood, vegetables or even Chinese bun.

As expected, my dad(a very health conscious man) did not show his interest when he saw the menu, so I ordered a plate of fried rice for him. But surprisingly he enjoyed the barbecued food very much, especially the barbecued lamb, until the fried rice was left unattended. By now, do I still have to explained how tasty the food was? I hope my dad is not going to read this. :p

The barbecued Chinese bun(烤馒头) had some very crispy skin with sesame, but was very soft inside. 

Barbecued chives(烤韭菜)

Barbecued mushroom (烤香菇)

This was a real surprise, barbecued lamb. 烤羊排 Luckily few of our members did not take lamb, so we could have more. ;)

The barbecued oyster(烤生蚝) had a very special sauce on top.

Barbecued eggplant(烤茄子)

Tender and juicy barbecued pork(烤里脊肉)

barbecued fish(烤鱼)

 

 Barbecued food paired with beer

I had to admit that I was never a fan of beer. But that very night, I made the suggestion to order beer.

The next table was a basketball team who had lost their game. They were a bit drunk, making all sort of noise to release their disappointment. I was not annoyed, at all. I knew I was in a very good mood.

BaiJiaWei Hakka Restaurant ZhuZhiLin Branch 佰味佳客家钵仔菜(竹子林店)

18 China Ever-Bright Bank Building Second-Floor North, ZiZhu Qi Dao
福田区竹子林光四路紫竹七道18号光大银行大厦2楼北座

木屋烧烤(园博园店)

29-30 Yuan Bo Yuan, ZhuZhiLin Si Road
福田区竹子林四路园博园东门商饮一条街29-30号

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Window of the World 世界之窗

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