Shenzhen 深圳Shēnzhèn

About Shenzhen

Until the late 1970s Shenzhen was a farming county on the Hong Kong border; in 1980 it became one of China's first special economic zones and has since grown into a city of skyscrapers, home to Huawei, Tencent and DJI. The Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) Theme Parks include Window of the World, while eastward lie Dameisha beach and Dapeng Fortress, a Ming garrison town of 1394. On Chung Ying Street the Hong Kong boundary runs down the middle of the road.

What to eat in Shenzhen

• Guangming roast pigeon (光明乳鸽)

Listed sites in Shenzhen

13 sites in Shenzhen are on the official lists. Those with a page of their own link to it; the rest open as cards on the map.

• Mission Hills Shenzhen 观澜湖 5A scenic area · on the map
  Founded in 1992 in Guanlan, Mission Hills Golf Club was recognised by Guinness World Records in 2004 as the world's largest golf facility, with twelve 18-hole courses designed by players such as Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and Annika Sörenstam.
• Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) Theme Parks 华侨城 5A scenic area
  Nanshan's Overseas Chinese Town groups Shenzhen's best-known theme parks: Splendid China Folk Village, founded in 1988, with small-scale models of Chinese landmarks and full-size replica villages of China's ethnic groups where staged shows are held; Window of the World, opened in 1994, with miniature copies of world landmarks; and Happy Valley, an amusement park with roller coasters opened in 1998.
• Evergreen Resort (Qingqing World) 青青世界 4A scenic area · on the map
  An eco-tourism farm park opened in 1995 at the foot of Dananshan hill, with a simulated rainforest of artificial mist and rain, a butterfly garden and a petting area with small animals.
• Fairy Lake Botanical Garden 仙湖植物园 4A scenic area
  A large botanical garden at the foot of Wutong Mountain beside Shenzhen Reservoir, founded in 1983, open since 1988 and now linked with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
• Guangming Farm Grand View Garden 光明农场大观园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A family farm park on land of the old Guangming state farm, founded in the late 1950s and long known for its dairy, with fields, flower beds, animal enclosures and hands-on farming activities such as crop picking.
• Guanlan Shanshui Tianyuan Farm Resort 观澜山水田园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A farm-style leisure park of about 27 hectares in Guanlan, laid out in Lingnan and Hakka water-village style, with a resort hotel, village hot springs, a water park with a wave pool and a children's amusement area.
• OCT East 东部华侨城 4A scenic area
  A resort and theme-park complex opened in 2007 by the OCT Group in the Sanzhoutian hills above Dameisha beach.
• OH Bay and Bay Glory Ferris Wheel 欢乐港湾 4A scenic area · on the map
  A waterfront leisure and shopping district on Qianhai Bay in Bao'an's new city centre, developed by the OCT Group, with seaside promenades, shops and restaurants.
• Shenzhen Safari Park 深圳野生动物园 4A scenic area · on the map
  Opened in 1993 beside Xili Lake, this safari-style zoo is described by Shenzhen's tourism bureau as the first in China to keep its animals uncaged.
• Waterlands Resort (Haishang Tianyuan) 海上田园 4A scenic area · on the map
  An eco-park opened in 2001 in the coastal wetlands at Shajing, beside the Pearl River estuary, with lakes, streams, woods and lawns, birdlife and seasonal flowers.
• Chung Ying Street Boundary Stones 中英街界碑 National heritage site · on the map
  Chung Ying Street in Shatoujiao is a short street whose centre line forms the land boundary between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, marked by stone boundary markers of 1905 carved in Chinese on the side facing Shenzhen and in English on the side facing Hong Kong.
• Dapeng Fortress 大鹏所城 National heritage site
  Built in 1394 as a Ming garrison town against coastal pirates, Dapeng Fortress withstood a siege of more than forty days by Japanese pirates in 1571 and in the Qing was the base of the Dapeng naval command during the Opium War years.
• Former East River Column Headquarters, Tuyang 土洋村东江纵队司令部旧址 National heritage site · on the map
  A former Italian Catholic mission in Tuyang village, built in 1912 in a mixed Chinese and Western style, with a two-storey main house, a chapel and a former stable.

Getting to Shenzhen

Train, flight and driving times from the cities most visitors come from, with stations, fares and how many run a day; each opens the full comparison.

• Guangzhou 广州 high-speed train 29 min, 295 a day, from ¥75

Where you can get to from Shenzhen in a day · All routes

On the map

Open Shenzhen on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Official website
• Wikipedia (Chinese)