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Monday, 12 July 2010 |
Shenzhen Children's Palace is a huge activity center for children aged about 5-12 in Shenzhen. In fact, although you can enter without kids, you do need to bring kids to go to the activity areas. We saw little girls in dancing outfits, karate suits, a big queue for Energy's world, but also serious stuff like robotics etc. The building has a very futuristic design and is located just to the north of the Civic Center and to the east of the Book City.

Inside Children's Palace
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Saturday, 10 July 2010 |
Guan Shanyue Art Museum (关山月美术馆) is a national art museum in Futian district, near the Civic Center. We went for the first time to the museum at Saturday the 10th of July 2010. It's housed in a modern building that was opened in 1997. Lots of marble inside, but it seems most of the building is not used strangely enough. When we went there, there were two exhibitions: one of traditional Chinese ink paintaings, and the other of peasant paintings. These paintings were the reason why I wanted to go, below you can see why!

Guan Shuanyue art museum in Shenzhen
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Saturday, 03 July 2010 |
Since about 2006, Shenzhen has digital television throughout the city. This means you need a special box below your TV to convert the digital signal into something your TV can understand. The TV network is built by Shenzhen Media Group who owns Shenzhen TV stations, broadcasting stations, movie factory etc. SZ media group also owns Topway, the company that you as end user will buy the TV subscription from. This article explains how to get a TV subscription and also dives a bit into censorship of the (English) TV channels.
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Thursday, 01 July 2010 |
To renew your work visa in China, you will also need to extend your foreign expert certificate. First you need to take care fo your expert certificate. For this you need special photos with barcode (at least in Shenzhen). Photoshops will know what you need. You also need to show your employment contract. For the visa itself, you need to show your expert certificate obviously, again photos with barcode, an application form and 800 RMB. This year you don't need to submit the application in person anymore, though last year it was required to do so. In short:
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Wednesday, 09 June 2010 |
These are the dates and times when soccer matches of the FIFA World Cup 2010 in Africa are being broadcast in China on TV. We'll be off work from Monday the 14th to Wednesday the 16th because of the Dragon Boat festival. The TV schedule for China is also available here in Chinese .
The Dutch (荷兰) matches will be shown live on CCTV 5. You can also view the matches online at the QQLive WorldCup Live page (in Chinese). You perhaps have to download an installer for the QQLive software, but it's only a few MB and installation is just a few clicks. Very easy.
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Sunday, 18 April 2010 |
Passengers flying out of Hong Kong International Airport are liable for a
departure tax of HK$120 per person (12 years and above), but if you travel to Hong Kong by boat, airplane or helicopter, you don't need to pay this tax. Because this tax is already included in your ticket, you need to go to a special counter to get the money back.
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Saturday, 17 April 2010 |
Every foreigner who wants to enter China needs a visa. Normally, you would get a visa in the country where you live at the embassy. If you fly to Hong Kong and want to visit Shenzhen, there is another possibility though; you can get a visa for short stay in Shenzhen. There are many conflicting reports about this kind of visa for Shenzhen though. This article provides an overview of the facts.
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Monday, 05 April 2010 |
There are a couple of places where you can buy gifts in Shenzhen. Untill this weekend, I only knew about the gift shop near SEG, which is ok, but now I found some other gift markets that are much bigger and with more locals. You will find lots of different things: traditional paper cutting, Buddha figures, miniature bikes, fake food, lighters, keychains, cups, glassware, lights, toys, wedding stuff and much more. The first gift shop is located near SEG, the other one in Luohu district, near all the furniture stores.

Shop selling traditional Chinese decoration for weddings
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