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About Shenzhen City
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| Introduction |
Shenzhen is one of the most beautiful cities in China; more important, it is where our factories locate.
The once fishing villages, Shenzhen symbolizes a great success of China's economic reform lead by former leader Deng Xiaoping, who hand-picked Shenzhen as the first Special Economic Zone in 1979, an experiment aiming to attract domestic and foreign investments, especially from its bordering city, Hong Kong, then British ruled important financial and trade center.
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Slideshow 1: General views |
Slideshow 2: Attractions |
| After 30 years of self closeness, it was the first time that China opened its gate to the outside world. The experiment was proven to be very successful; with a series of government incentives including tax exemption, plus low labor and material costs, it actually poised great opportunities to investors. Shenzhen has since become the fastest grown city and one of the largest manufacturing bases in the world. In addition to capital, foreign investors have also brought in modern technologies and management concepts, which make Shenzhen a world class industrial zone as well. |
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| Location |
Shenzhen is situated in the southern coastal area of Guangdong province and borders with Hong Kong. It is 160 kilometers (100 miles) away from the city of Guangzhou, and 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Hong Kong. It covers an area of 2,020 square kilometers (780 square miles). |
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The Shenzhen Municipality comprises six districts: Luohu (罗湖), Futian (福田), Nanshan (南山), Yantian (盐田), Bao'an (Baoan, 宝安), and Longgang (龙岗).
- Luohu. Covering an area of 78.89 km² in the center of Shenzhen and adjacent to Hong Kong, Luohu is the financial and trade center.
- Futian. 78.04 km², Futian is where the city government locates.
- Nanshan. Nanshan is on the west of the city, an area of 164.29 km², it is the home for many high-tech companies.
- Yantian. Yantian (75.68 km²) is known for transportation, with Yantian Port the second largest deepwater container terminal in China and fourth largest in the world.
- Bao'an and Longgang. These are two largest districts, with Baoan (712.92 km²) to the northwest and Longgang (844.07 km²) to the northeast, and where many manufacturers locate. They are actually located outside of the inner city.
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| Transportation |
You can travel to Shenzhen by airplane, train, boat, and car.
First of all, due to its proximity to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, Shenzhen Airport is basically a domestic airport (with few international flights), meaning that you can't fly directly into Shenzhen. You use it merely to connect to other parts of China.
For visitors from abroad, you can first fly to either Hong Kong airport or Guangzhou airport. There are several options going from either airport to Shenzhen.
Going from Guangzhou Airport to Shenzhen
If you have a friend who can pick you up with a car, Guangzhou would be the easier choice because you simply check out and meet your friend at the airport. It usually costs more flying to Guangzhou airport than to Hong Kong.
Otherwise you can take a bus (sometimes there are tour buses at the airport), or take a taxi to a bus station or train station, then take a bus or train from there. Unless you speak Chinese or have someone accompanying, these are not good choices. |
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Going from Hong Kong to Shenzhen
From Hong Kong airport, you can take a bus from the airport to cross the HK-Shenzhen border (Huanggang) and enter Shenzhen. Please note, despite the fact that Hong Kong has returned to China since 1997, it remains a self-governed district with Customs borders separating from mainland China. It means whenever you cross a border, you have to go through two Customs. The difficult part is that when you enter into Shenzhen, you are required to carry all you luggage through the China Customs gate; likewise, when you leave Shenzhen and enter into Hong Kong, you are required to carry you luggage through the HK Customs gate, before continuing onto the bus. It takes about one and half hours and HK$100(as of December 2005) going from the HK airport to the Shenzhen border, which is opened 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Ferry. There are several ferries connecting HK International Airport, Kowloon, and Hong Kong Island to Shenzhen (Shekou port). The ferry trip will take about one hour to Shekou border. From there you can take a car, taxi, or bus to your destination. Click here to find the ferry schedule. |
| Train. You may also take train from Hong Kong's KCRC East Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) station to Shenzhen's Luohu border. It takes approximately 40 minutes and HK$36.3 (as of December 2005). Trains run from 5:30am to 11:00pm in the interval of 3 to 8 minutes and the border crossing is open daily from 6:30am to midnight. |
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HK Rail System |
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Transportation within the Shenzhen City
Shenzhen launched its subway system on 28th December 2004. The metro has two lines, one from Luohu (Luohu & Shenzhen railway stations) to Window of the World, and the other from Huanggang to a point further north.
It is also very convenient to travel in the Shenzhen city by bus or taxi. There are lots of bus routes in Shenzhen with which you can go almost anywhere in the city. Bus fares are usually around 2 to 8 yuan of RMB. Taxis are metered, with a starting fare of RMB12.5 for 3 kilometers, and RMB2.4 for each additional kilometer.
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| Weather |
Shenzhen's annual average temperature is 22.4 Celsius degree, with the lows around 10 Celsius degree in January and humid highs of 33 Celsius degree in August. |
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| Money |
You exchange foreign currency for Chinese RMB in airports, hotels and banks. Exchange rate is relatively lower in airport and hotel than in bank.
Most star hotels, department stores, large restaurants, and airports take credit card payment. |
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| Shopping |
Shenzhen sits on an exceptional position compared to most of other cities in China, with its wide selections of brand name merchandise, either domestic or imported. Here you can find small commodities that you can get a bargain, or famous brand products in flashy department stores.
There are also a few overseas supermarkets at downtown areas, such as Carrefour and Wal Mart etc.
Nowadays in China you can buy almost anything you need as you may get in your home country, at a low expense. For your easy reference, here are some typical expenses in Shenzhen: |
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(Approximate exchange rate: USD 1 = RMB 8)
| Taxi |
with a starting fare of RMB12.5 for 3 kilometers, and RMB2.4 for each additional kilometer. |
| Bus |
Approximately between RMB 2-8. |
| Metro |
Approximately between RMB 2-5. |
| Coke |
RMB 1.9/can (Coca-Cola & Pepsi-Cola) |
| Beer |
RMB 5.5/can (Heineken), RMB3.2/can (Tsingtao) |
| Bottled Water |
RMB7.5/500ml bottle (Evian), RMB1.6/400ml bottle (Watson's) |
| Toothpaste |
Between RMB 6.7 and 11.8 (Colgate) |
| McDonald |
RMB 19.8 (BigMac Combo) |
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| Attractions |
Apart from shopping, Shenzhen has many tourist attractions, including:
- Window of the World (世界之窗)
- Splendid China (锦绣中华微缩景区)
- China Folk Culture Villages (中国民俗文化村)
- Happy Valley (欢乐谷)
- Safari Park Shenzhen (深圳野生动物园)
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| People |
Approximately 11 million people live in Shenzhen, compared with a mere 30,000 in 1980 when the small border township was opened up as the country's first Special Economic Zone.
Built on the back of economic trade with Hong Kong and the rest of the world, Shenzhen has attracted migrants from all over China, people who continue to flock to city to seek wealth and to build a new life.
In recent years the city has started to attract an increasing number of foreigners who come to this young and vibrant modern city to produce products that distributed around the world.
As a migrant city, Shenzhen's main official language is Mandarin, which is widely spoken and understood by everyone. This offers a great opportunity for learners to practice their Chinese and to learn about the variety of customs and culture of Chinese people.
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