Shenzhen

Asia

/

China

/

Shenzhen

Shenzhen is China's first Special Economic Zone located along the coast of the South China Sea on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary in Guangdong province. Shenzhen shares its southern border with Hong Kong, approximately 27.3 kilometers away. If you want to travel from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, it takes approximately a 20-minute bullet train ride or around a 1.5-hour drive by private car.

Renowned for its diverse tourist attractions, Shenzhen has earned a spot on the New York Times' list of 31 must-visit destinations worldwide. A visit to Shenzhen promises a rich experience with cultural and entertainment highlights through places like the Splendid China Folk Village and Window of the World. If you want to enjoy the natural beauty of Shenzhen, revel in the scenic beauty while taking a walk on Nanshan Mountain or Shenzhen Bay Park.

If you seek leisure or encounters with wildlife and botanical displays, Shenzhen offers must-visit destinations like Shenzhen Happy Valley and Shenzhen Safari Park. You can also find various other tourist attractions in Shenzhen, such as museums, beaches, shopping centers, and amusement parks, which makes this city the theme park capital of China.

Get to Know Shenzhen

Take a tour of this destination's highlights

Travel Tips for Shenzhen

What you need to know before traveling here

Getting Around Shenzhen

A guide to Shenzhen's local transportation

Bus

Shenzhen Metro

Taxi

To get around Shenzhen, you can use several transportation options, one of which is the bus. The public buses available in Shenzhen are comfortable, clean, quiet, and punctual. To travel by bus, you can pay using cash, a scanned bank card, WeChat mini app, and the Shenzhen Tong Card as the most recommended. Bus fares usually range from 2 yuan to 20 yuan, with privately operated premium service buses costing 30 yuan. For bus departure schedules and routes, you can search on the Che Lai Le app.

Practical Tips for Shenzhen

Things to prepare and best way to visit

What is Shenzhen known for?

Shenzhen is known for its speed of technological development on a global scale, which made this city recognized as China's Silicon Valley. Originally a coastal fishing town in southern China, it only took about 30 years for Shenzhen to transform into a metropolitan city. Fostering an innovative, competitive, and entrepreneurial urban culture, Shenzhen is now home to technology and software companies, characterized by skyline-dominated buildings. To witness the panoramic Shenzhen cityscape on a clear day, you can visit Meridian View Center or Ping'an International Financial Center, one of the tallest buildings in the world.

What to do in Shenzhen?

For those who seek cultural performances, such as acrobatics, opera, and Chinese folk dance, with a view of miniature replicas of China's historical landmarks, Splendid China Folk Villages is a perfect destination for you to visit. Alternatively, explore the Window of the World, featuring a large-scale display of cultural representations from around the world.

To escape the bustling city and immerse yourself in Shenzhen's natural beauty, OCT East, a national ecological resort, offers two ecological theme parks, three scenic towns, two mountain golf houses, as well as performing arts attractions, and a Buddhist theme park. You can also discover other natural tourist attractions, such as Qiniang Mountain, Fenghuang Mountain, and the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden.

A visit to Shenzhen would not be complete without exploring its historical sites. There are numerous protected sites with cultural relics that you can find around Shenzhen, including the famous Chung Ying Street, Qing Dynasty Hakka architecture, and Dapeng Fortress. Consider your visit to the Tianhou Museum, which has traditional Chinese-style architecture where you can see statues and courtyards from centuries ago.

What to eat in Shenzhen?

When visiting Shenzhen, you must try some of the snacks you can find in various places there. For breakfast or lunch, try Cantonese Dim Sum, while for dinner, consider trying Cantonese sausage, made from the rear leg of a pig.

Shenzhen also offers a variety of soupy dishes, such as Cantonese Congee, a rice-based soup with assorted ingredients, and Sichuan hotpot, a hot and spicy dish containing meat, vegetables, noodles, and Sichuan peppercorns in a pot of boiling broth.

Another menu that you can try is a seafood menu variant, such as a seafood hotpot, which has a pork bone soup base or potato and tomato soup base in it, along with fish, oysters, and shrimp. Apart from that, Shajin Oysters, known for their large size and tender flesh rich in nutrients, are also a delightful choice.

To satisfy your sugar craving, you can try Cantonese pudding, which is made from rice flour with various flavors, such as apple, coconut, peach, and sesame.

How many days should I stay in Shenzhen?

Shenzhen has various attractions and tourist destinations that it's certainly not enough if you just explore it for one day. To make the most of your vacation time, allocating 2 to 5 days in Shenzhen is optimal.

What is the best time to visit Shenzhen?

Shenzhen has a long summer, so it is suitable to visit all year round. For those of you who want to enjoy holiday time to go to the beach, May to October is the time when Shenzhen has a long summer, with July being the hottest month of the year.

Another good time to visit Shenzhen is November to April when the temperature ranges between 15 to 20 degrees Celsius. During these months, Shenzhen enjoys brief spring and autumn seasons, along with a mild and sunny winter, making it the most favorable time for a visit.