Days G2-6: Rained Out in Shenzhen

August 2, 2022 to August 6, 2022

Arrival to Shenzhen was smooth and with so few people traveling it was easy to exit the airport. To do so, of course, you needed a covid test. This was also set up before the baggage claim. The process was infinitely simpler than Hangzhou and I began to quickly get the hang of it. You sign up on the app, enter a few details, get tested, and move on.

The taxi then brought me to the first hotel where I used the previous Hangzhou train station covid test result to check in (it had just come out negative about an hour prior). I was mainly going to regroup and figure out what this travel thing was all about again. The next two days consisted of catching up on various blogs, doing group fitness classes, eating delicious healthy food, then biking around the city. It wasn't the easiest biking here as they are quite literally sidelined to the sidewalk but I was familiar from previous trips. It didn't take long to get the hang of things.

Washing clothes in the sink was not working out since it was constant humidity and they'd take days to dry. I needed to find a better system which would happen eventually.

One of the most strange things I had to deal with were all the traffic wardens at intersections shouting, "Wear a mask!" I didn't bother as it was pointless to wear a mask while riding a bike. When it came to businesses, of course I would wear one to get in and also show a 24 hour covid test.

Figuring out the covid testing system in a new city would be a key part of this trip. These were a must to be done every day for my group fitness classes, or else they wouldn't let me in the building. By asking around and a bit of trial and error I found the locations for various testing sites and managed to get them done successfully.

From the other side as I managed to get around this. The reason they had blocked it off is because of covid of course. Oh right, yes, this will stop the virus. I forgot now.

Brand new fitness studio. This one had an attached restaurant and was the best I had come across!

The Shenzhen franchise sure knows how to run this business well.

Chilling out with a coffee after an intense class

I also managed to get some decent maintenance and repair work on the Montague. There was a particular shop that was quite helpful and I knew the guy on a previous visit. He helped install a new chain and cassette as well as general fixing of the derailleur. I then rode the bike around various parts of the city as a form of LISS (low intensity steady state) recovery from all the intense fitness classes. This was starting to feel like a proper trip now.

Unfortunately a typhoon came in and soaked the city for the next three days and the biking turned into taxi rides. But still, the group fitness classes were not going to be curtailed from this.

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