Shenzhen 2011. China's superstar boomtown

[Pansori]

Please note: everything said by me here is my personal opinion and experience. I am not intending to start any discussions based upon disagreements about anything with anyone. Those who are intending to concentrate on anything else apart from photos and enjoying Shenzhen with me, please don't.

So I did it. Finally
After years of "next time" I finally took a decisive action and paid a visit to China. To be precise, Guangdong province which included Shenzhen and Guangzhou in addition to my final destination in China Macau.

My time in Shenzhen was very limited (only two nights) which means I did not manage to physically visit the city but merely some bits and pieces here and there. It was enough to get some idea what Shenzhen is all about. And, boy, it is one hell of a city: huuuuuge, modern, clean and orderly. It looks and feels like a true paradise for an urban planner with wide tree-lined avenues, lots of tall and massive buildings, good public transport, lovely parks and retreat areas and the small architecture to complete the entire picture. Perhaps a bit like Simcity in real life.

I have heard some negative talks of Shenzhen in the past: that it's dangerous, dirty (wtf?), polluted and unpleasant. I never believed it anyway but now I would just laugh at anyone saying anything of the sort. Shenzhen is a fascinating, beautiful, lovely, very clean and simply an incredible city which is in a league of its own when it comes to modernity and dynamism. A true superstar of China and a showcase of the explosive development which has been taking place there for the past 30 years with Shenzhen in the front.


Some basic facts about Shenzhen:

- population: 9+ million
- area: 2000 sq.km
- established: 1980 (yes, it's merely 30 years old!)
- bordering Hong Kong to the South and very close to another Chinese magapolis Guangzhou to the North-West

One absolutely incredible fact about Shenzhen is that this city has been built virtually from scratch in just 30 years. I mean a 10 million city in 30 years... this is something. It was established as a free economic zone in 1980 and has grown to a massive metropolis by now which is bigger than London...

Location Map


Close-up map. As you see it's pretty much squeezed in between Hong Kong and Guangzhou



Anyway, here are the photos. I know I did not see everything I wanted due to limited time but I guess this is a reasonably good preview of what to expect there. And I am more than confident it is not my last time there...

It took ages to wait at the passport control after which I took a taxi from the airport. The ride was amazing: a fresh new motorway, all modern and neat around it, massive residential blocks around. We surely came to a big city. However, despite showing the driver a map with Chinese writing he managed to get lost (he knew location just approximately). It was very strange because Shenzhen is extremely easy to navigate and all it took were two right turns to get to my destination... anyway I started showing the driver where to go with hand gestures and after about 10 minutes of messing around we got to the place which was Enping street in OCT-LOFT area. All I knew about it was that my hostel was meant to be there and picture of the map location...

1. Here is the first view nearby. It was almost midnight. Some large apartment blocks around


2. Shennan Avenue nearby. This is one of the main avenues of Shenzhen going for over 20km East to West.


3. Did not quite expect something like that. The whole area was simply overwhelmed by trees, bushes and other greenery. It felt almost like walking in a tunnel of green. Of course, everything was taken good care of with lovely pedestrian paths, decorative lighting and a very peaceful and I would say romantic atmosphere all around. It seemed like an exceptionally nice area. I was to find out more the day after. One thing I noticed was the feeling of total safety. I saw lone women walking in the dark and playing around with their iPhones, or couples just having romantic time under a tree and having a drink or a snack. Mind you it was midnight and just an occasional person on the street. Usually it would not be considered a good time to go for a walk on your own, especially if you are a woman and show around your iPhone, camera or other expensive gadget. I was later to find out that any worries of personal safety were wrong. I spoke to an Irish expat living in Shenzhen and he ensured me that if there is one thing to enjoy then it's being sure that physical attacks of any kind are extremely unlikely if not impossible in Shenzhen or any other major Chinese city. Seemingly there is no much violent crime there apart from such nuisances as pickpockets. Good. That's what I like, feeling safe.


4. Nearby the hostel I stayed (it's called LOFT Youth Hostel, located in OCT area and I would highly recommend it to any budget traveller going to SZ, it's a very modern, cool and open place). What I immediately noticed was the attention to taking care of public spaces in the city. This was not only the case in this area but everywhere I went.


5. OCT is not a typical place. It's a former industrial area rebuilt into loft houses and largely modelled by Vancouver's loft zone. Whoever got such an idea deserves a praise because this must be one of the most pleasant, peaceful and romantic urban areas I have ever seen anywhere. Gotta love that post-industrial and artistic loft atmosphere filled with plenty of greenery all around. I must admit I did not expect something as cool as this in Shenzhen but I guess China these days is the place where even the insanely high expectations are exceeded as was the case with me in almost every step I went. In the picture you see a police patrol with an electric car


6. Street art in OCT


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8. Bicycle path. Seemingly the city authorities pay lots of attention to the needs of cyclists. Quite a few bicycles everywhere and it seems to be the younger generation as well and not just those who cannot afford a more comfortable transport as was the case in the past

[Pansori]

9. Facades of former factories. Today they house anything from restaurants and art galleries to apartments and hotels.


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11. Info boards


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I have Googled a little article about OCT

OCT-LOFT the city’s new community art park
http://www.shenzhen-standard.com/201...nity-art-park/

With a total investment of 30 million yuan and two years of renovation, the city new community art park OCT-LOFT was inaugurated at the Overseas Chinese Town in the Nanshan District.
The first phase of the park was created from renovated factory buildings in the eastern part of the OCT which covers a total area of 55,000 square meters with another 95,000 square meters reserved for further development. 20 companies and organizations composing of designers, architects and artists have joined the community. Over the last decade major cities opened up to the idea of loft living, bring the way of life to deserted parts of the city. With tenants like artists and architects who chose to live in rooms with high ceilings, large windows and open floor areas.
In 2004 the OCT Real Estates Co. planned to transform abandoned area into modern art and cultural center. The block of abandoned industrial building would have been torn down for real estate development but they decided to transform the district to mimic New York’s Soho district.
OCT Real Estates Co. decided to renovate the industrial area by copying Vancouver’s loft zone. The company sent a team of experts to visit Vancouver to get ideas. A true loft is a conversion of a vintage factory or warehouse, anyone can do or design the place according to their liking.

[Pansori]

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The nearby Qiaocheng East Road


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Qiaocheng East Road. Lots of greenery, wide pedestrian sidewalks


18. Junction with Shennan Avenue


18. Apartment buildings next to Shennan Avenue

[El_Greco]

The Loft area seems like my kind of place.

BTW about the cycle lanes - are those to be found in just one area or are they pretty much all over the place?

[christos-greece]

Some very nice photos from Shenzhen; the city looks great

[Pansori]

19. View from Shennan Avenue overpass to Qiaocheng East Rd. in Nan Shan district. Typical view of Shenzhen: wide avenue (note it is not even one of the "main" avenues), wide pedestrian sidewalks, clean, well ordered and simple with plenty of trees and other greenery around. Everything just looks in order and has that general feeling of neatness and tidiness


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21. Shennan Avenue


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24. Qiaocheng East metro entrance is alsmost hidden in the bushes. There is a bus stop nearby. Now we'll be heading East to see some other parts of Shenzhen

[Pansori]

25. Ticket machines in the metro. Fares are at 2-7RMB (typically 3-4 RMB which would be around 0.5 EUR). The machines accept coins and notes. The ticket comes in a form of RFID token or a multi-use RFID card which have to be touched to a ticket reader at every ticket gate.


26. Metro. Very clean, tidy, modern and new.


27. Metro station area above the platforms. Lots of space. Looks and feels a bit like Hong Kong metro. Not surprising because Hong Kong is just a few km away.


28. A few kilometers away from the OCT in Futian



29. The high-rise area in Futian looks largely complete but it's still very much a work in progress: smell of concrete, paint and other construction materials are in the air. In fact it's not that much different in most of Shenzhen. It's a city that must have been addicted to building new stuff and in large quantities. That's what we like


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[Pansori]

More views in Futian

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32. Love how the pedestrian and all other public spaces are taken care of


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33. Futian Sheraton


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[Pansori]

35. Continuing in Futian


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37. Fuhua Road, one of the main avenues of Futian CBD


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[Pansori]

Streets in Futian. Things look very good indeed. Everything is clean, neat, tidy and in good shape.

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[Rekarte]

I love it!

[Pansori]

46. Jintian Road


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49. Those two towers on the right are Excellence Century Plaza Towers - 250m and 280m high built in 2010 and designed by American architecture firm Leo A Daly


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Futian CBD (actually just a small part of it)


52. Apartment blocks nearby

[Pansori]

53. SEG Plaza (292m)


54. Some cars have dual plates... they seemingly come from Hong Kong and are required to have Chinese plates as well... or something of the sort


55. Traffic lights usually have counters. Very convenient


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58. Excellent signage. Street names are also written in English

[Frieden]

nice pictures mate

but isnt Shenzhen really boring? I mean from a cultural perspective it has nothing to offer, aye?

[maxxam80]

Just to add my 2 cents (I understand no one asked)

Having spent a lot of time in Guangdong province and Hong Kong - Shenzhen is not a particularly nice place. No cultural attractions, crime does occur (similar levels to London I would feel) and there are a lot lot nicer cities in China such as Chengdu.

[Pansori]

Depends on what you call nice and/or boring. I have so far not seen a place more boring and dull than London outside of the overcrowded zone 1 which I am sure you, maxxam80, know no worse than I do. Shenzhen on the other hand is not a single-centered city and seems like a lively, open and very accessible place where attractions are not necessarily crowded in a single 1sq. km area. I was surprised to find out about the OCT where I stayed... few places I have seen more cool and chic than that. More than sufficient amount of nightlife seemingly happening too. And if that is not enough, Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou and Zhuhai are within commuting distance some of which offer more fun and attractions than perhaps all of our old continent taken together... ok, perhaps in just some specific areas

So all in all it's just not fair to call it "boring". It certainly isn't.

[lezgotolondon]

this area is massive!

can you show us some nice spots of these cities from the mountains?

[Pansori]

Originally Posted by lezgotolondon

this area is massive!

can you show us some nice spots of these cities from the mountains?

I'm sure there are some fantastic spots but I simply had no time. I even missed some regular spots because I walked so much and got so tired that at some point I wasn't sure if I'd make it back to my hostel

[Pansori]

Time to carry on

59. I expected to see more Chinese cars (I mean by brand, not by assembly place). I did see quite a few but still got a feeling that streets are somewhat dominated by German and Japanese brands, quite a few Korean and an occasional French. Overall a rather pluralistic and healthy mix of motor vehicles


60. Women really care about not getting suntanned. It wasn't a particularly sunny or hot (about +25C) day but many women were carrying umbrellas to cover from sun


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[Pansori]

64. Shennan East rd.


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66. Kingkey 100 tower nearing completion. It is the tallest tower in SZ at 442m i.e. pretty much the same as Willis Tower in Chicago which was world's tallest skyscraper for decades until 1998


67. A huge picture of Deng Xiaoping. To a large extent China perhaps should thank this old fella for its current success. I guess it would not be a mistake to call Deng one of the greatest and most deserving political leaders of the 20th century.


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70. On the left is Shun Hing Square which until very recently was the tallest building in Shenzhen (384m including spires). There is an observation deck on the upper floors