Shenzhen Adventures, Week 2!

This week was filled with exploring the Shenzhen public transportation system, trying more great food, and playing ultimate frisbee with the Shenzhen international ultimate frisbee team. We are also off to the races work-wise with the HAX electrical engineering and industrial design teams, forming relationships with potential component suppliers, and nailing down software plans with help from Amazon Web Service software architects.

However, even as work picks up Dan and I are making a point to set aside time to relax and continue enjoying the incredible city of Shenzhen!

The most fun thing we did this week was play ultimate frisbee with the Shenzhen international Ultimate Frisbee, the "Shenzhen Zen". The Shenzhen Zen play all across the world, and compete in tournaments all throughout China as well. Dan found out about the team online and messaged one of the captains, who was very friendly and told us to come join a game of pickup. There were around twenty or thirty people at the field who came together to play and practice. We showed up, jumped right in, and even managed to score a couple points!

The team hosts pickup games several times a week, and Dan is even considering formally joining the club team to compete in tournaments. Ultimate frisbee is a great way to stay active, meet new people, have fun, and the field is really nice as well. The field is only a few stops away on the Shenzhen subway line that runs close to HAX, so getting there is really convenient.

The subway system is Shenzhen is absolutely incredible. The system has more than 11 separate lines which reach all corners of the city, and is very easy to ride. The stations are very clean and while the subway cars do get crowded, they are nowhere near as bad as New York or Boston. Also, each ride costs only cents no matter where you go!

Dan and I used to walk 20 minutes every morning to our office, which can feel very hot when it is 95 degrees with 80% humidity outside. Now that we've learned how to take the subway, we can get to work in just 5 minutes.

We are also on a mission to find the best noodles in all of Shenzhen! Since noodles are the staple here, we can try new spots every single day because there are so many restaurant options. This week we also went out to dinner at a good Indian food restaurant called Bollywood, and had hotpot with some people from HAX. Hotpot is similar to Korean BBQ or The Melting Pot, you get to cook your own food in a giant boiling pot of broth and vegetables in the middle of the table. There is an entire WeChat group for "foodies" here at HAX, and people are going out to different cool spots almost every night of the week. This is great because we can find out about the best places to eat from the experts who have been here for way longer than we have.

This upcoming week we plan to take the subway to places further away from the electronics district, there are tons of interesting areas all around. Stay tuned for more exciting updates, and to see if Dan makes the Shenzhen Zen club team!