This is last day on the trip. I’m heading back to Shenzhen in the afternoon. The last meal covered by the trip was breakfast and I was sure to eat a big one. Stickin’ it to the man, you know. Our first stop was the famous Yu Gardens, which are massive convoluted rock garden with an extensive goldfish pond. Most of the plants are different varieties of trees. Apparently, the guy that built it did so because he was so ashamed for taking bribes. There are a few reminders of this throughout the garden, basically reminders to live a good and honest life. Good good.

Some cool dragons here too:

We spent some more time shopping in the area near here. There’s fun bargaining to do and a nice variety of things to look at. It’s much more pleasant than the madness of Luohu in Shenzhen. I’ll be heading back there soon (wanna get some tailored stuff).

When the rest of the group went to an expensive lunch, I headed back looking for the pedestrian mall. I never found it, but I did stop by and get a little snack for lunch (McDonalds :-o). I then made my way back to the hotel to do some last minute emailing and packing.

I took the “Magnelev” train to the airport. It’s one of the futuristic trains that somehow runs on magnets (“Magnelev” is a mix of “Magnet” and “Elevated”) and rips the air at 270 miles per hour on the quick journey to the airport (7 minutes). The train is only at its top speed for 30 seconds or so because the trip is so short. But, it’s quite a thrill. What was really exciting was when another train passed us going in the opposite direction at the same speed. These are long trains and it flashed by in less than a quarter of a second, no lie!

Check out the movie of the Magnelev.