Shantou

The lonely planet does not spend much time on Shantou and there is realy not much to see. I spent only a few hours in town. It has an very old and rundown western part, on the markets you saw raw pigheads and feet lying uncooled on tables. But the other part consist of the typical skyscrapers, some more beautiful than in Hong Kong, shopping Malls und streets. McDonalds is there and it's Pepsi not Coca Cola who sponsors all outdoor furniture and the fridges in Shantou.
We were in the area to teach a day at a school close by. I am not sure, wether our 1day attempt to communicate some English skills was worth it, but it was interesting to get together with students. The students were shy to speak in class though they knew the vocabulary. Furtheron we did not know what they are interested in or what the normal teaching style was. It was funny how reluctant we were to discuss a family tree (using words like brother, sister, aunt etc.) just to find out that the one child policy is not realy like we think it is: most kids had between 2 and 5 siblings! The living standards were simple but we got food like nobles and could enjoy how Chiu Chows are preparing their famous KungFu tea.

Me and some of the students, showing us around.

Western Part of Shantou, the complete contrast to the modern skyscraper-rest!