Guide to Shenzhen, China

Shenzhen in Guangdong Province is the bustling industrial neighbor to the north of Hong Kong. This city was founded in 1980 as the first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as part of Deng Xiaoping's policy of reform and opening in China. Prior to this designation, it consisted of a few fishing villages with an estimated population of only 20,000. Nearly thirty years later, Shenzhen boasts a population of more than 15 million and GDP of more than 568 billion Yuan in 2006. It is divided into six districts, of which half are considered part of the SEZ.

Today, Shenzhen is considered a major manufacturing center in China that supplies everything from toys to eye glasses. There are 17 sea ports for exporting the goods that are produced in the city as well as an international airport. The city government has been making strides to attract more international technology firms' research and development departments in an effort to cut manufacturing pollution and improve sustainable economic development. The majority of factories lie outside the SEZ in Bao'an and Longgang Districts.

As many businesspeople flock to the always growing city, the government is also making the effort to improve what is perceived to be the lack of cultural history. At the end of 2007, Nanshan District unveiled the Poly Theatre-a futuristic concert hall that closely resembles the National Theatre in Beijing. The first major performance at the Poly Theatre was the Broadway musical Cats. Shenzhen also boasts a few art museums of varying size in each district. Recently, it reopened the Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) Loft art district with an exhibition centering on the theme of development and environment. However, out in Dafen, Longgang District, art lovers can collect hand-painted copies of the great masters. This small artist community exported approximately US$36 million of reproduced oil paintings in 2005.

Besides the modern exhibits of cultural arts, Shenzhen is home to a few theme parks, namely Window of the World, Splendid China, and Happy Valley. All three of these parks are within a subway stop of each other. At Window of the World visitors can travel all over the world without a passport. Splendid China is similar to its neighbor but only houses sites from around China in miniature. Visitors to Happy Valley can enjoy a modern amusement park with a variety of rides and games.

For visitors who are not interesting games and cheesy amusement, there are many parks throughout the city. At the center is Lianhuashan Park in Futian District, which has a statue of Deng Xiaoping in stride looking down from the mountain directly at the city government office that resembles a colorful bird in flight. Other impressive parks for a trip away from the crowds include Fairy Lake and Nan Shan (South Mountain).

In 2011, Shenzhen will play host to the Universiade-an Olympic-style event with participants from universities around the world. In anticipation of this event, the government is constructing many new subway lines in the hopes that it will reduce traffic on the streets from its more than 1 million private vehicles. Even without the modern subway lines, Shenzhen's bus system is readily available for trips all around the city with prices starting at 2 Yuan depending on the line and distance traveled.

The city is not generally considered a tourist destination, but it is constantly attempting to attract people. The majority of visitors to Shenzhen are day travelers from Hong Kong who arrive through the Luohu crossing looking for shopping deals at the shopping mall just outside customs, Dongmen, or Huaqiang Bei. All of these shopping centers are littered with knock-off and fake products sold at a fraction of the price of the genuine.