Guangzhou/Shenzhen - Day 4/Day 1 (Luohu Commercial City - Dongmen Pedestrian Street - Sun Plaza)

We had planned to check out of the hotel at 12pm and board a train to Dongguan at 1pm to meet with one of Ben's potential supplier. However, the plan was cancelled as the supplier was unable to make it and Ben only notified us after we checked out of the hotel at 12pm. In the end, we did nothing for a half day in Guangzhou and missed the opportunity to see his supplier in Dongguan.

Our initial plan was to meet with his supplier in Dongguan and then take the train to Shenzhen. Since the plan didn't work out, we purchased a last-minute ticket from Guangzhou East Railway Station to Shenzhen Station (Price - RM 65.74 per person for first-class seat). We had our lunch together with Ben at Chuangshan Restaurant, which is located opposite Guangzhou East Railway Station. I had goose with roasted pork, while my partner had chicken with BBQ pork. Roasted pork is tasty and goose is flavourful but has rubbery skin. Ben's friend joined us for lunch as well. However, we have to leave early, around 2pm to catch our 3pm train to Shenzhen.

Chuangshan Restaurant

Chili

Goose and roasted pork

Duck and BBQ pork (char siew)

Pork ribs

Orange juice (Angeline purposely went and bought us this orange juice)

It was raining quite heavily when we walked to the Guangzhou East Railway Station. The check-in process was really fast. We went through a luggage scan, and a lady used a hand-held security metal detector to scan my body while also conducting a body search. Even though we were merely getting on a train, their security was really strict. 

There is no queue and we just need to show our passport and ticket at the departure gate. The boarding gate will open 10 minutes before boarding and close 5 minutes before the train departs. There is no escalator, so we have to go up the staircase to board the train. Luckily, my partner was there to assist me with carrying my cabin bag. It was raining so heavily and there was no adequate shade when boarding the train, so we got a bit soaked. The train departs at 3pm and takes one hour and five minutes to arrive in Shenzhen.

Guangzhou East Railway Station departure gate

Guangzhou East Railway Station boarding gate

Guangzhou East Railway Station

Guangzhou East Railway Station

Guangzhou East Railway Station

First class seat

We must scan our passports before exiting Shenzhen Station. As we waited in line for the passport verification, we spotted our buddy Jlo welcoming us to Shenzhen. He and his wife were having their tea break at Burger King, and later they accompanied us to the Paco Hotel for our check-in.

Shenzhen Train Station

Shenzhen Train Station

Walking to our hotel

We left our stuff in the hotel room and headed to Luohu Commercial City at 5pm. It's a five-story shopping center that resembles Kuala Lumpur's Sungai Wang Plaza. There are stores selling mobile phones, accessories, gadgets, handbags, watches, shoes, clothes, food and services such as massage parlors, dental clinics, tailors and nail salons. Apart from that, everywhere you go, there are staff giving out name cards for their massage and nail polish services. People may also be seen smoking inside the retail complex. When I stepped outside the train station in Shenzhen, the first thing I noticed was the overpowering smell of cigarettes!

Long distance train entrance

Luohu Port

Shenzhen Railway Station

Luohu Commercial City

Luohu Commercial City

Luohu Commercial City

Luohu Commercial City

Luohu Commercial City

We stumbled into a mochi stall and we bought a box of three flavours - peanuts, black sesame and red beans. They have two sizes - ¥ 20 for two flavours or ¥ 29.8 for three flavours. However, they charged us ¥ 35 for three flavours and claimed that it's based on weight. Mochi is not very tasty. It's hard and chewy. Then, my partner saw a roasted pork stall and decided to try it. The roasted pork has a crispy skin, but somehow the texture is very different from our roasted pork. It lacks the bite and chewy texture of meat.

Mochi stall

Different mochi fillings

Three different types of mochi fillings (peanuts, black sesame and red bean) - ¥ 35

Roasted pork stall

Roasted pork - ¥ 25

As we left Luohu Commercity City, it began to rain. We decided to take the subway to Dongmen Pedestrian Street. We must go through bag scanning before entering the subway, just like we did in Guangzhou, or the personnel will order us to drink the water in front of them. So, we took the subway from Luohu to Laojie Station (¥ 2 per person). When I exited the station, the gate would not open when I inserted the single-journey token. My partner approached the station attendant for assistance, and he directed me to exit through the manual gate. Once we came out of Laojie Station, we took Exit D to Dongmen Pedestrian Street. We passed through the underground Bazzar before reaching Dongmen Pedestrian Street.

Luohu Port

Luohu Port

Ticketing machine

Our single-journey token

Laojie station

Walk through the underground Bazzar before reaching Dongmen Pedestrian Street

As we wandered around Dongmen Pedestrian Street, it started to rain. Jlo went to fix his cracked phone screen, which will take some time. So to avoid the rain, we hang out in Sun Plaza Mall. There aren't many food choices and there's only two floors with food selection.

Dongmen Pedestrian Street

Dongmen Pedestrian Street

Dongmen Pedestrian Street

We waited for Jlo and had our dinner at this Shaanxi handmade noodles shop located on the first floor of the department store. I ordered pickled cabbage beef noodles with less spiciness. Surprisingly, the noodles were rather nice. The soup is sour and mildly spicy. My partner ordered their biangbiang noodles which are thick and chewy. Since Jlo likes dumplings, we ordered a plate. The dumpling itself was decent, but we couldn't finish it and were left with four. My partner tried a stick of lamb skewer. It has a strong gamey taste but is flavourful.

The staff made a mistake and served us the grilled BBQ buns despite the fact that we had not ordered them. Since the buns had already arrived, we decided to accept it. The buns have a flaky crust and are filled with BBQ meat. The restaurant also offers unlimited refill of drinking water and red dates drink.

(Total bill - ¥ 181.90)

Sun Plaza (Shaanxi handmade noodles)

Water and red dates drink

Lamb skewers - ¥ 8.90

Freshly grilled BBQ bun (1pc) - ¥ 15

Cabbage and meat dumplings with vinegar sauce - ¥ 29

Laowanhui biangbiang noodles - ¥ 33

Spinach noodles with tomato Bolognese sauce - ¥ 27

Pickled cabbage beef noodles - ¥ 33

Large slices of beef tendon biangbiang noodles - ¥ 36

Address:

Dongmen Sun Plaza

Shop B103 on the first floor of the department store

Luohu District,

Shenzhen City

We left Sun Plaza Mall around 9pm and before we left, we looked for a restroom, which was only available on the third level. It's still raining when we left the mall. Jlo and his wife bought an umbrella and continued shopping on Dongmen Pedestrian Street. We decided to head back to our hotel instead. We encountered issues paying with Alipay and TnG while purchasing the metro tokens. We also ran out of small change. The machines will only accept ¥ 5 or ¥ 10 notes. So, we ended up going to the metro customer service counter and asking for a change of money.

Anti-riot fire stand

Dongmen Pedestrian Street

Dongmen Pedestrian Street

Dongmen Pedestrian Street

I decided to end the night with Burger King's Hokkaido flavoured ice cream waffle cone located in Luohu Station. The ice cream cone is delicious and crunchy. The ice cream is creamy, but not that tasty.

Burger King

Hokkaido flavour ice cream waffle cone - ¥ 6