Shenzhen

A city not yet fifty

The city government describes Shenzhen as a small border town turned modern international metropolis. Walk around and you'll notice wide boulevards and new metro stations long before any old lanes. With 18 metro lines, you'll end up planning most of your days by station name. The city stretches east to west. Luohu in the east is the old downtown on the Hong Kong border; Futian in the middle holds the city government and the financial district; Nanshan and Shekou in the west run down to the sea. Keep going east to the Dapeng Peninsula and the towers give way to hills and beaches. It's a subtropical city with an average annual temperature of 23°C, so you'll rarely need a heavy coat, even in winter.

Huaqiangbei and Dafen: where things get made and sold

Huaqiangbei in Futian is Shenzhen at its most Shenzhen. The district government calls it "China's No. 1 Electronics Street," and each building has its own specialty. • SEG Electronics World — components and computers • SEG Communications Market — chargers and power banks, with cheap screen protectors upstairs • Yuanwang Digital Mall — phones; from the 3rd floor up, many stalls offer near-wholesale prices even for a single unit • Feiyang Times Building — secondhand iPhones and repairs The ground floor of SEG Electronics World is all small parts—capacitors, resistors, chips, sensors—while on the 2nd floor of Yuanwang Digital Mall you can try out robots, VR gear and 3D printers. Parts get sold, assembled, and sold again as finished products, and you can watch the whole cycle within a few blocks. Take metro Line 2 or 7 to Huaqiang North, Exit D1, and you're on the street. Dafen Oil Painting Village, in Buji, Longgang District, is what the district government calls China's largest oil-painting production and trading base. Studios and galleries line the lanes, so the place where a painting gets made and the place where it gets sold are in the same neighborhood.

Lianhuashan: Futian from above

To see how the city was laid out, head to Lianhuashan Park in Futian. It's close to Exit A1 of Lianhua West Station on Line 2, and from the plaza at the top, the towers of the Futian central business district spread out below you. The plaza holds a 10-meter statue of Deng Xiaoping, said to be the first urban statue of Deng approved by the central government. You get the leader who opened the special-economic-zone era and the skyline that era built, in one place. Time your walk for late afternoon and the office windows start lighting up on your way down.

Nanshan: a 600-plus-year-old town and a seaside temple

Saying Shenzhen has nothing old is only half true. Nantou Ancient Town in Nanshan, also called Xin'an Ancient Town, was built in 1394 to guard the Dongguan area. It later housed the Xin'an County government office, and today a Guandi Temple honoring Guan Yu, Qing-style homes and shrines are still tucked among its lanes. It's a five-minute walk from Exit B of Taoyuan Station on Line 1. Farther toward the sea, in Chiwan, Shekou, stands the Tianhou Temple. Locals started building it in the early Northern Song dynasty, and it was greatly expanded under the Ming and Qing. Legend has it that Tianhou, goddess of the sea, saved the navigator Zheng He on a voyage, and he asked the emperor to enlarge her temple. It's open 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Toward the sea: Shenzhen Bay to Dapeng

A seaside path runs a long way along Shenzhen Bay—about 15 km from the Nanhai Hotel in Shekou to the mangrove reserve, with the sea on one side and lawns and coastal trees on the other. Even a short stretch shows you the city's western edge from the water. At the path's eastern end is Futian Mangrove Ecological Park. Its wetland is home to 194 bird species, 23 of them endangered. Across the Shenzhen River lies Hong Kong's Mai Po Nature Reserve, so two cities' wetlands face each other across a single river. For more sea, head to the opposite side of the city: the Dapeng Peninsula in the east. In the south of the peninsula, Xichong Beach faces the South China Sea, and together with neighboring Dongchong it draws backpackers, hikers and surfers. Buses M231 and M232 run to Dongchong and Xichong, so set aside a full day.

Eating: between Canton and Chaoshan

Shenzhen's table centers on Cantonese and Chaoshan cooking. According to the city government, restaurants on the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide and the Michelin Guide draw food lovers from across China every year, and the range runs from high-end Japanese and French to Cantonese and Chaoshan, all in one city. Start the day with Cantonese morning tea (zaocha): a few plates of dim sum with a pot of tea. For dinner, try Chaoshan beef hotpot. Raw beef, cut by cut, goes into a clear broth for just a moment, and since each cut needs a different time, staff will sometimes tell you when to pull it out. Cantonese roast goose and oysters from Shajing in Bao'an are worth trying here too.

A 3-night, 4-day plan

Day 1 — Arrive → check in in Futian → late-afternoon walk in Lianhuashan Park → Chaoshan beef hotpot for dinner Day 2 — Huaqiangbei electronics street → Dafen Oil Painting Village → Shenzhen Bay path and Futian Mangrove Ecological Park at sunset Day 3 — A full day at Xichong and Dongchong beaches on the Dapeng Peninsula Day 4 — Morning tea (dim sum) → Nantou Ancient Town → Chiwan Tianhou Temple → depart

What to eat

• Chaoshan beef hotpot (raw beef, cut by cut)
• Cantonese dim sum (morning tea, zaocha)
• Roast goose (Cantonese barbecue)
• Oysters (from Shajing, Bao'an)

Handy tips

• Coming in by high-speed rail from Hong Kong? You clear Hong Kong exit and mainland entry together on level B3 of West Kowloon Station. Clearance opens 90 minutes before departure and usually takes 30–45 minutes.
• Spend over 200 yuan in one go at a participating store and you can get the tax back right there instead of waiting until you leave (11% on items taxed at 13%). You'll need a credit card that can be pre-authorized, and you have to leave the country within 17 days of the purchase.
• Haggling is normal in Huaqiangbei. Compare a few stalls first, and keep your receipt—it's your proof for returns or faulty goods.