My departure out of San Diego involves taking an overnight Amtrak coach + train + coach for a morning arrival into San Francisco. Fortunately, the connections are easy with short waiting times.
Amtrak thruway coach seating. Amtrak has a fleet of coaches which provides transfer to train passengers to areas not served by its train such as San Diego city and San Francisco city.
Train scenery en-route
This particular Amtrak train features double decker seating on a first-come-first-served basis for its normal seats. The economy seats are definitely more comfortable than economy class seats on a plane and has power outlets for every seat. The train was initially crowded during boarding but slowly empties out closer to San Francisco, where another coach is waiting to ferry the passengers into San Francisco city.
For myself, I arranged to be dropped off at Westfield shopping mall, where fortunately there is a free bag deposit service after checking with the concierge. So I'm able to explore the city for another round. 😃
The same night, I boarded a Virgin American flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles to connect with the Hainan airlines transpacific flight to Chongqing, China. It is this part of my month-long trip where some issues cropped up at the Virgin America's San Francisco check-in counter and the rush to connect at Los Angeles airport after a delayed flight. Luckily, things always seem to turn out fine in the end and I manage to end up in China, though my luggage is lost forever. Apparently, my luggage did not make the connection and up till today, I have no idea where it is in the world.
Anyway, after a couple of hours at Chongqing airport, I took a domestic flight on Hainan Airlines to Shenzhen. Not sure if it is a blessing in disguise, but without my luggage, I'm able to wander around and explore Shenzhen. This city has many theme parks, but since I have only limited time here, my first stop would be the 世界之窗 window of the world. It gives a glimpse of the world out there through replicas of the monuments of the world in miniature sizes, such as the Eiffel tower, Taj Mahal, etc. Hence the name of this attraction.
This cool looking spot is actually the entrance to the Shenzhen metro.
The Eiffel tower replica behind me
Taj Mahal replica
The famous domes of Moscow
X'mas cheer in Shenzhen
Next I went to the lian hua shan park. Not exactly a tourist destination, but more for the locals to hang out.
Lian hua shan park in Shenzhen
After the park, I set off for the Shenzhen railway station via metro and transfer to the high speed rail to Guangzhou. I took the normal seat for the bullet train. It is more than comfortable for the short journey between Shenzhen and Guangzhou. There are toilets on board. Food is buy-on-board, with the train attendants bringing around a menu for passengers to peruse and order.
This marks a short but fruitful day trip in Shenzhen.
