On one of our days off, all of the Edu-Pals got together to take a day trip to one of Shenzhen's beaches (yes, Shenzhen does have beaches, I was surprised too)!
Jiaochangwei Beach is about an hour bus ride from Shenzhen (though it took some of the other Edu-Pals an hour to get to the bus station we left from), so we all goofed around on the bus until we got there.
Once there, we had to ask for directions to the bathroom to change into our swimsuits using the Chinese we have been learning from our Mandarin classes. We somehow managed to ask and find our way there, and then it was time to hit the beach!
As soon as we got down to the waterfront, the sky decided to open up and start pouring down rain. We took cover under and awning, but KC and Phoebe decided to dive into the water in the rain anyways. It was quite hysterical watching them flop around in the water with rain pouring down on top of them as locals looked on from under their umbrellas!
Thankfully the rain stopped as soon as it started, so we all hopped into the water! KC bravely brought her phone out to take pictures, and I am so glad she did because we now have so many amazing (and hysterical) photos that I still laugh at! The tide went out after a while and we discovered we could go quite a ways out and still only be hip deep in the water. The only thing that wasn't the most fun was the ocean floor was cooooovered in shells, so we had to carefully pick our way out to the sandbar that was a good 200 meters out.
We reached a smaller sandbar about halfway there and found a whole bunch of little crabs scuttling around! They were so cute! We all realized the sharp objects that has been cutting our feet (and KC's behind when she fell down) were probably the crab shells... Sorry crabbies...
After we had enough sunshine (Ksenia was starting to get a bit red), we decided to go get a snack and head to Dapeng Fortress. We stopped at a colorful fruit and ice cream stand where we all got delicious smoothies and extravagant sundaes before walking the short distance to the fortress. The fortress contained a bunch of cute little shops, where a couple of us picked up some souvenirs.
As the evening was falling, we decided to head back home for some ramen and soju while we all hung out! This was within the first week of me being here which I was so glad I went as this was a start of an amazing friendship with these girls and has been one of my favourite moments so far which I can't wait to see what else the next 5 months have to bring!
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