Situated on the border of Guangdong near Hong Kong, the city of Shenzhen has a unique and lively atmosphere that is quite different from most places in China.
Shenzhen has sometimes been likened to Las Vegas as it has a flashy and rather artificial atmosphere. However, there is certainly plenty to see and do here such as numerous theme parks and plenty of shopping. Many people choose to spend a few days living it up in Shenzhen before traveling to some of China’s more isolated towns and villages.
Communicating in Shenzhen can be rather challenging as few people understand English and a number of different Chinese dialects are spoken, including Mandarin and Cantonese. It is best to buy a phrase book and ask hotel staff to help in negotiations with taxi drivers or write instructions for you.
Getting There & Away
Visitors can fly straight into the Shenzhen Bao’an Airport, which is connected to most other airports in China including Beijing (2 hours, 25 minutes) as well as international destinations such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Shenzhen has its own train station, which frequently receives high-speed trains from places such as Guangzhou (1 hour), Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. There are also buses to and from a large number of destinations throughout China.
Things to Do
Shenzhen Attractions
- Window of The World
-
This interesting park contains scale models of all the main attractions around the world such as the eiffel tower, taj mahal and grand canyon.
- Minsk World
-
This military theme park features a soviet aircraft carrier and periodic performances.
- He XiangNing Art Museum
-
Visit china’s second national modern art museum to view a collection of modern paintings in a range of styles.