Shenzhen - Shenzen

Shenzhen ([ʂə́nʈʂə̂n]; Chinese: 深圳) is a major city in Guangdong Province, China. The city is located immediately north of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and holds sub-provincial administrative status, with powers slightly less than a province.

Shenzhen was a market town of 30,000 people on the route of the Kowloonâ€"Canton Railway. That changed in 1979 when Shenzhen was promoted to city-status and in 1980 designated China’s first Special Economic Zone (SEZ). According to the Government report for 2015, Shenzhen had transformed to a city with population of 10,778,900 and a metropolitan area population of over 18 million. Shenzhen was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world during the 1990s and the 2000s. Shenzhen's population boom slowed down to less than one percent per year by 2013 as the manufacturing boom ebbed in favor of other industries.

Shenzhen's modern cityscape is the result of its vibrant economy made possible by rapid foreign investment since the institution of the policy of "reform and opening" establishment of the SEZ in late 1979.

Shenzhen is a major financial center in southern China. The city is home to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as well as the headquarters of numerous high-tech companies. Shenzhen ranks 19th in the 2016 edition of the Global Financial Centres Index published by the Z/Yen Group and Qatar Financial Centre Authority. It also has one of the busiest container ports in the world.

History

Human habitation in Shenzhen dates back to ancient times. The earliest archaeological remains so far unearthed are shards from a site at Xiantouling on Dapeng Bay, dating back to 5000 BC. From the Han dynasty (third century BC) onwards, the area around Shenzhen was a center of the salt monopoly, thus meriting special Imperial protection. Salt pans are still visible around the Pearl River area to the west of the city and are commemorated in the name of Yantian District (盐ç"°, meaning "salt fields").

The settlement at Nantou was the political center of the area from early antiquity. In the year 331 AD, six counties covering most of modern southeastern Guangdong were merged into one province or “jun” (郡) named Dongguan with its administrative center at Nantou. As well as being a center of the politically and fiscally critical salt trade, the area had strategic importance as a stopping off point for international trade. The main shipping route to India, Arabia and the Byzantine Empire started at Guangzhou. As early as the eighth century, chronicles record the Nantou area as being a major commercial center, and reported that all foreign ships in the Guangzhou trade would stop there. It was also as a naval defense center guarding the southern approaches to the Pearl River.

Shenzhen was also involved in the events surrounding the end of the Southern Song dynasty (1276â€"79). The Imperial court, fleeing Kublai Khan’s forces, established itself in the Shenzhen area. Lu Xiufu, the then-chief minister, realized all was lost and knowing the Mongolian forces would soon take over the area, he preferred suicide instead of the emperor being captured which might have brought shame to the dynasty. He jumped off a cliff with Emperor Bing, aged 8, the last emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty strapped to his back, killing both. In the late 19th century the Chiu or Zhao (Zhao was also the Song Imperial surname) clan in Hong Kong identified that Chiwan (Chinese:赤湾), an area near Shekou as the final resting place of the Emperor and built a tomb for him. The tomb, since restored, is still at the same location.

Earliest known records that carried the name Shenzhen dates from 1410, during the Ming Dynasty. Local people called the drains in paddy fields “zhen” (圳). Shenzhen (深圳) literally means “deep drains” as the area was once crisscrossed with rivers and streams, with deep drains within the paddy fields. The character 圳 is limited in distribution to an area of South China with its most northerly examples in Zhejiang Province which suggests an association with southwards migration during the Southern Song Dynasty (12th and 13th centuries). The County town at Xin'an in modern Nanshan dates from the Ming Dynasty where it was a major naval center at the mouth of the Pearl River. In this capacity it was heavily involved in 1521 in the successful Chinese action against the Portuguese Fleet under Fernão Pires de Andrade. This battle, called the Battle of Tunmen, was fought in the straits between Shekou and Nei Lingding Island.

In November 1979, Bao'an County (宝安县) was promoted to prefecture level, directly governed by Guangdong province. It was renamed Shenzhen, after Shenzhen town, the then administrative centre of the county which stood approximately around present location of the Dongmen.

1980 onwards as a Special Economic Zone

Shenzhen was singled out to be the first of the five Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in May 1980. Initially, the SEZ comprises an area of only 327.5 km² of southern Shenzhen, covering the current Luohu, Futian, Nanshan and Yantian districts. The SEZ was created to be an experimental ground for the practice of market capitalism within a community guided by the ideals of "socialism with Chinese characteristics".

In 1982 Bao'an County was re-established, though this time as a part of Shenzhen. The county was converted to become Bao'an District, which was out of the Special Economic Zone. Shenzhen was promoted to a Sub-provincial City in March 1983 and was given the right of provincial-level economic administration in November 1988. With a population of 30,000 in 1980, economic development has meant that by 2008 the city has had 12 million inhabitants.

Shenzhen became one of the largest cities in the Pearl River Delta region, which itself is an economic hub of China, as well as the largest manufacturing base in the world.

For five months in 1996, Shenzhen was home to the Provisional Legislative Council and Provisional Executive Council of Hong Kong.

On 1 July 2010, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone was expanded to include all districts, a five-fold increase over its pre-expansion size. In August 2011, the city hosted the 26th Universiade, an international multi-sport event organized for university athletes.

Geography

Shenzhen is located within the Pearl River Delta, bordering Hong Kong to the south, Huizhou to the north and northeast, Dongguan to the north and northwest. Lingdingyang and Pearl River to the west and Mirs Bay to the east and roughly 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of the provincial capital of Guangzhou. The municipality covers an area of 1,991.64 square kilometres (769 sq mi) including urban and rural areas, with a total population of 10,358,381 at the 2010 census. It makes up part of Pearl Delta River built-up area with 44,738,513 inhabitants, spread over 9 municipalities (including Macau). The city is elongated measuring 81.4 kilometers from east to west while the shortest section from north to south is 10.8 kilometers.

Rivers and Reservoirs

Over 160 rivers or channels flow through Shenzhen. There are currently 24 reservoirs within the city limits with a total capacity of 525 million tonnes.

Notable rivers in Shenzhen include the Shenzhen River, Maozhou River and Longgang River.

Islands

Climate

Although Shenzhen is situated about a degree south of the Tropic of Cancer, due to the Siberian anticyclone, it has a warm, monsoon-influenced, humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa). Winters are mild and relatively dry, due in part to the influence of the South China Sea, and frost is very rare; it begins dry but becomes progressively more humid and overcast. However, fog is most frequent in winter and spring, with 106 days per year reporting some fog. Early spring is the cloudiest time of year, and rainfall begins to dramatically increase in April; the rainy season lasts until late September to early October. The monsoon reaches its peak intensity in the summer months, when the city also experiences very humid, and hot, but moderated, conditions; there are only 2.4 days of 35 °C (95 °F)+ temperatures. The region is prone to torrential rain as well, with 9.7 days that have 50 mm (1.97 in) or more of rain, and 2.2 days of at least 100 mm (3.94 in). The latter porti on of autumn is dry. The annual precipitation averages at around 1,970 mm (78 in), some of which is delivered in typhoons that strike from the east during summer and early autumn. Extreme temperatures have ranged from 0.2 °C (32 °F) on 11 February 1957 to 38.7 °C (102 °F) on 10 July 1980.

Administrative divisions

Shenzhen has direct jurisdiction over eight administrative Districts and two New Districts:

The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) comprised only Luohu, Futian, Nanshan, and Yantian districts until 1 July 2010, when the SEZ was expanded to include all the other districts, a five-fold increase over its pre-expansion size.

Adjacent to Hong Kong in southern China, Luohu is the financial and trading center of Shenzhen. Futian, at the heart of the SEZ, is the seat of the Municipal Government. West of Futian, Nanshan is the center for high-tech industries. Formerly outside the SEZ, Bao'an and Longgang are located to the north-west and north-east, respectively, of central Shenzhen. Yantian is the location of Yantian Port, the second busiest container terminal in mainland China and the third busiest in the world.

Demographics

Shenzhen has seen its population and activity develop rapidly since the establishment of the SEZ. Shenzhen has a population of over ten million. About six million of these people are non-local migrant workers who may return to their home town/city on the weekends and live in factory dormitories during the week. Shenzhen is the largest migrant city in China.

There had been migration into southern Guangdong province and what is now Shenzhen since the Southern Song dynasty (1127â€"1279) but the numbers increased dramatically since Shenzhen was established in the 1980s. In Guangdong province, it is the only city where the local language, Cantonese, Hakka, or Teochew, is not the main language; it is Mandarin that is mostly spoken, with migrants from all over China. At present, the average age in Shenzhen is less than 30. The age range is as follows: 8.49% between the age of 0 and 14, 88.41% between the age of 15 and 59, and 3.1% aged 65 or above.

The population structure polarizes into two opposing extremes: intellectuals with a high level of education, and migrant workers with poor education. It was reported in June 2007 that over 20 percent of P.R.C's PhD's worked in Shenzhen.

According to the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, in 2002, 7,200 Hong Kong residents commuted daily to Shenzhen for work, and 2,200 students from Shenzhen commuted to school in Hong Kong. Though neighboring each other, daily commuters still need to pass through customs and immigration checkpoints, as travel between the SEZ and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) is restricted.

In late July 2003, China relaxed travel restrictions to allow individuals from the southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as Beijing and Shanghai, to visit Hong Kong. Previously, mainland travelers could only visit the city as part of tour groups. (See Individual Visit Scheme.)

Immigration into Shenzhen from China's interior was previously restricted by the hukou system. One consequence is that just outside Shenzhen, there exist large towns consisting of now settled migrants who had previously attempted to enter the city.

Religion

According to 2010 data collected by a University of Southern California research project, approximately 37% of Shenzhen residents were practitioners of Chinese folk religions, 26% are Buddhists, 18% Taoists, 2% Christians and 2% Muslims; 15% were unaffiliated to any religion.

Languages

Prior to the establishment of Special Economic Zone, the indigenous local communities could be divided into Cantonese and Hakka speakers, which were two cultural and linguistic sub-ethnic groups vernacular to Guangdong province. Two Cantonese varieties were spoken locally. One was a fairly standard variety. The other, which was spoken by several villages south of Fuhua Rd. was called Weitou dialect. Two or three Hong Kong villages south of the Shenzhen River also speak this dialect. This is consistent with the area settled by people who accompanied the Southern Song court to the south in the late 13th century. Younger generations of the Cantonese communities now speak the more prestigious variety, known as standard Cantonese, probably because of the influence of Hong Kong broadcasting. Today, the original inhabitants of the Cantonese and Hakka speaking communities are dispersing into more recently built urban settlements (e.g. apartments and villas), but a large proportion of them are still clustering in their traditional urban and suburban villages.

The influx of migrants from other parts of the country has drastically altered the city's linguistic landscape, as Shenzhen has undergone a language shift towards Mandarin, which was both promoted by the Chinese Central Government as a national lingua franca and natively spoken by most of the out-of-province immigrants and their descendants. Since then, the Cantonese- and Hakka-speaking populations were diluted into trivial proportions. Despite the ubiquity of Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Hakka, and Teochew are still spoken among people of in-province ancestries in private occasions to a lesser extent than Mandarin. Hokkien and Xiang are also sometimes observed.

Mandarin native speakers, whose majority is out-of-province immigrants and their descendants are found unwilling to learn Cantonese, Hakka or Teochew, probably due to Mandarin's dominance, advantages, administrative legitimacy, educational priority, societal bias, and official statuses at international, national, provincial, and municipal levels, as well as those languages' inherent complexities and difficulties. However, in recent years trilingualism is on the rise as descendants of immigrants begin to assimilate into the local culture through friends, television and other media.

Economy

In 2015, Shenzhen's GDP totaled $270 billion, putting it on par with a mid-sized province by terms of total GDP. Its total economic output is higher than that of Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, and Vietnam. Its per-capita GDP was ¥164,664 ($25,038) as of 2014, on par with some of the developed countries of the OECD. Shenzhen was the first of the Special Economic Zones to be established and it showed the most rapid growth, averaging at a very high growth rate of 40% per annum between 1981 and 1993, compared to the average GDP growth of 9.8% for the country as a whole. The economic growth later slowed after this early breakneck pace; from 2001 to 2005, Shenzhen's overall GDP grew by 16.3 percent yearly on average, though growth has slowed to around 10% per year since 2012. Shenzhen is in the top ranks among mainland Chinese cities in terms of comprehensive economic power. Shenzhen's economic output is ranked fourth among the 659 Chinese cities (behind Beijing, Shanghai and Guang zhou).

In 2001, the working population reached 3.3 million. Though the secondary sector of industry had the largest share (1.85 million in 2001, increased by 5.5%), the tertiary sector of industry is growing fast (1.44 million in 2001, increased by 11.6%). The proportion of the three industries to the aggregate of GDP was 0.1:46.7:53.2 in 2009. The proportion of the primary industry to GDP was down by 13.4%, and the tertiary industry was up by 12.5%. Its import and export volumes have been first for the last nine consecutive years. It is the second in terms of industrial output. For five consecutive years, its internal revenue within local budget ranks third. It also ranks third in the use of foreign capital.

Shenzhen is a major manufacturing center in China. In the 1990s, Shenzhen was described as constructing "one high-rise a day and one boulevard every three days". The Shenzhen's rapidly growing skyline is regarded among the best in the world. It currently has 59 buildings at over 200 meters tall, including the Kingkey 100 (the 14th tallest building in the world) and Shun Hing Square (the 19th tallest building in the world).

Shenzhen is home to some of China's most successful high-tech companies, including BYD, Konka, Skyworth, Tencent, Coolpad, ZTE, Gionee, TP-Link, DJI, BGI (Beijing Genomics Institute), OnePlus and Huawei. Taiwan's largest company, Hon Hai Group, has a large manufacturing plant based in Shenzhen. Many foreign high-tech companies have their China operations centers located in the Science and Technology Park of the Nanshan District. Additional examples of successful Chinese companies with large operation in Shenzhen include the China International Marine Containers, the largest container-manufacturing company in the world, and Vanke which is among the largest residential real estate developers in China. In the financial sector, Ping An Bank and China Merchants Bank are some of the largest banks in China, with headquarters in Shenzhen.

Due to its unique status, Shenzhen is also an extremely fertile ground for startups, be it by Chinese or foreign entrepreneurs. Successful startups include Petcube, Palette, WearVigo, Notch and Makeblock. Shenzhen is also the product development base of the hardware startup accelerator, HAX Accelerator (formerly HAXLR8R).

Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center is a large public construction project with multiple functions of hosting business activities, celebrations, conferences, conventions, entertainment events, exhibitions, restaurants and all kinds of shows.

SEZ Border

Land borders between Shenzhen SEZ and the rest of China has been set up since the establishment of the SEZ. The border was known as 二线关 (pinyin: èr xiàn guān).

Initially, the border control was relatively strict, and required mainland Chinese non-Shenzhen SEZ citizens to obtain special permissions for entering. Over the years, border controls have gradually weakened, and permission requirement has been abandoned.

On 1 July 2010, the distinction was broken, the original SEZ border control was cancelled, and the Shenzhen special economic zone was expanded to the whole city. The area of Shenzhen SEZ thus increased from 396 square kilometres (153 sq mi) to 1,953 square kilometres (754 sq mi).

Although the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone have been extended to cover the whole of Shenzhen, colloquially Shenzhen is still said to be separated into two areas, with the original four districts comprising the SEZ before 2010 as 关内 (pinyin: guān nèi; literally: "within the border") and the rest known as 关外 (pinyin: guān wài; literally: "outside of the border").

Since June 2015 the existing unused border structures have been demolished and are being transformed into urban greenspaces and parks.

Industrial zones

• Shenzhen Hi-Tech Industrial Park (SHIP) was founded in September 1996. It covers an area of 11.5 km² (4.4 sq mi). Industries encouraged in the zone include Biotechnology/Pharmaceuticals, Building/Construction Materials, Chemicals Production and Processing, Computer Software, Electronics Assembly & Manufacturing, Instruments & Industrial Equipment Production, Medical Equipment and Supplies, Research and Development, Telecommunications Equipment.
• Shenzhen Software Park is integrated with Shenzhen Hi-Tech Industry Park, an important vehicle established by Shenzhen Municipal Government to support the development of software industry. The Park was approved to be the base of software production of the National Plan in 2001. The distance between the 010 National Highway and the zone is 20.8 km (12.9 mi). The zone is situated 22 km (14 mi) from the Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport.

Shenzhen Stock Exchange

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) is a mutualized national stock exchange under the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) that provides a venue for securities trading. A broad spectrum of market participants, including 540 listed companies, 35 million registered investors and 177 exchange members, create the market. Since its creation in 1990, the SZSE has grown with a market capitalization around 1 trillion yuan (US$122 billion). On a daily basis, around 600,000 deals, valued at US$807 million, trade on the SZSE.

Integration with Hong Kong

Hong Kong and Shenzhen have close business, trade and social links as demonstrated by the statistics presented below. Except where noted the statistics are taken from sections of the Hong Kong Government website.

As of September 2016, there are nine crossing points on the boundary between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, among which six are land connections. From west to east these include the Shenzhen Bay Port, Futian Port, Huanggang Port, Man Kam To Port, Luohu Port and Shatoujiao Port. On either sides of each of these ports of entry are road and/or rail transportation.

In 2006, there were around 20,500 daily vehicular crossings of the boundary in each direction. Of these 65 percent were cargo vehicles, 27 percent cars and the remainder buses and coaches. The Huanggang crossing was most heavily used at 76 percent of the total, followed by the Futian crossing at 18 percent and Shatoujiao at 6 percent. Of the cargo vehicles, 12,000 per day were container carrying and, using a rate of 1.44 teus/vehicle, this results in 17,000 teus/day across the boundary, while Hong Kong port handled 23,000 teus/day during 2006, excluding trans-shipment trade.

Trade with Hong Kong in 2006 consisted of US$333 billion of imports of which US$298 billion were re-exported. Of these figures 94 percent were associated with China. Considering that 34.5 percent of the value of Hong Kong trade is air freight (only 1.3 percent by weight), a large proportion of this is associated with China as well.

Also in 2006 the average daily passenger flow through the four connections open at that time was over 200,000 in each direction of which 63 percent used the Luohu rail connection and 33 percent the Huanggang road connection. Naturally, such high volumes require special handling, and the largest group of people crossing the boundary, Hong Kong residents with Chinese citizenship, use only a biometric ID card (Home Return Permit) and a thumb print reader. As a point of comparison, Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok Airport, the 5th busiest international airport in the world, handled 59,000 passengers per day in each direction.

Hong Kong conducts regular surveys of cross-boundary passenger movements, with the most recent being in 2003, although the 2007 survey will be reported on soon. In 2003 the boundary crossings for Hong Kong Residents living in Hong Kong made 78 percent of the trips, up by 33 percent from 1999, whereas Hong Kong and Chinese residents of China made up 20 percent in 2006, an increase of 140 percent above the 1999 figure. Since that time movement has been made much easier for China residents, and so that group have probably increased further still. Other nationalities made up 2 percent of boundary crossings. Of these trips 67 percent were associated with Shenzhen and 42 percent were for business or work purposes. Of the non-business trips about one third were to visit friends and relatives and the remainder for leisure.

After Shenzhen's attempts to be included in the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge project were rejected in 2004, a separate bridge was conceived connecting Shenzhen on the Eastern side of the Pearl River Delta with the city of Zhongshan on the Western side: the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge.

Qianhai

Qianhai, which means "foresea" in Chinese language, formally known as the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industries Cooperation Zone, is "a useful exploration for China to create a new opening up layout with a more open economic system." A 15 km² area located in western Shenzhen, Qianhai lies at the heart of the Pearl River Delta, adjacent to Shenzhen international airport. Strategically positioned as a zone for the innovation and development of modern services, Qianhai will facilitate closer cooperation between Hong Kong and mainland China, as well as act as the catalyst for industrial reform in the Pearl River Delta. With the goal of loosening capital account restrictions, Qianhai authorities have indicated that Hong Kong banks will be allowed to extend commercial RMB loans to Qianhai-based onshore mainland entities. The People's Bank of China has also indicated that such loans will for the first time not be subject to the benchmark rates set by the central bank for all other loans in the rest of China. According to Anita Fung from HSBC, "This new measure on cross-border lending will enhance the co-operation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen and accelerate cross-border convergence."

Cityscape

The tallest building in Shenzhen is Kingkey 100, rising 441.8 metres (1,449 ft) and containing 100 floors of office and hotel spaces. Shenzhen is also the home to the Shun Hing Square (Diwang Building), the tallest in Asia (if the antenna is taken into account) when it was built in 1996. The city has 59 buildings over 200 m (656 ft) built and topped out, and 9 of them are over 300 m (980 ft), mostly concentrated in Nanshan, Luohu and Futian districts. The third tallest building in Shenzhen is SEG Plaza at a height of 356 meters (291.6 meters to roof-top), located in Huaqiangbei. Guomao Building was furthermore the tallest building in China when it was completed in 1985.

A number of the supertalls that have been either proposed, approved or under construction are well over 400 m (1,312 ft). The tallest among these supertalls under construction is the 599-meter Ping An Finance Centre, which will become the second tallest in China and the fourth tallest building in the world upon its scheduled completion in 2016.

Transport

Road

Since February 2003, the road border crossing at Huanggang and Lok Ma Chau in Hong Kong has been open 24 hours a day. The journey can be made by private vehicle or by bus. On 15 August 2007, the Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang pedestrian border crossing opened, linking Lok Ma Chau Station with Huanggang. With the opening of the crossing, shuttle buses between Lok Ma Chau transport interchange and Huanggang were terminated.

The planned Shenzhenâ€"Zhongshan Bridge will connect Shenzhen on the Eastern side of the Pearl River Delta with the city of Zhongshan on the Western side. It will consist of a series of bridges and tunnels, starting from Bao'an International Airport on the Shenzhen side. Construction of the proposed 51 km (32 mi) eight-lane link is scheduled to start in 2015, with completion scheduled for 2021.

Taxis are metered and come in four colors. The red taxis may travel throughout the city; charging 10 RMB for the first 2 kilometers with a fuel surcharge of 3 RMB,then 2.4 RMB per additional kilometer travelled and waiting charge of 0.8 RMB per minute. The green taxis are restricted to travel outside of the original Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) (Futian, Nanshan, Luohu and Yantian districts). They have a base charge of 6 RMB for the first 1.5 kilometers traveled and fuel surcharge of 2 RMB, then similarly charging 2.4 RMB per additional kilometer and 0.8 RMB per minute waiting charge. Conversely, the less-common yellow taxis charging the same as red ones, runs only within the original Shenzhen SEZ. A recently introduced electric-powered taxi costs similar to the red and yellow ones, only having no fuel surcharge levied on.

There are also frequent bus and van services from Hong Kong International Airport to Huanggang and most major hotels in Shenzhen. A bus service operated by Chinalink Bus Company operates from Kowloon Station on the Airport Express MTR line (below Elements Mall) direct to the Shenzhen International airport.

As of 29 December 2014, Shenzhen banned passenger vehicles with license plates issued in other places from four of Shenzhen's main districts during peak times on working days.

Port

The city's 260-kilometre (162 mi) coastline is divided by the main landmass of Hong Kong (namely the New Territories and the Kowloon Peninsula) into two halves, the eastern and the western. Shenzhen’s western port area lies to the east of Lingdingyang in the Pearl River Estuary and possesses a deep water harbour with superb natural shelters. It is about 20 nautical miles (40 km) from Hong Kong to the south and 60 nautical miles (110 km) from Guangzhou to the north. By passing Pearl River system, the western port area is connected with the cities and counties in Pearl River Delta networks; by passing On See Dun waterway, it extends all ports both at home and abroad.

Shenzhen handled a record number of containers in 2005, ranking as the world's third-busiest port, after rising trade increased cargo shipments through the city. China International Marine Containers, and other operators of the port handled 16.2 million standard 20-foot (6.1 m) boxes last year, a 19 per cent increase. Investors in Shenzhen are expanding to take advantage of rising volume.

Yantian International Container Terminals, Chiwan Container terminals, Shekou Container Terminals, China Merchants Port and Shenzhen Haixing (Mawan port) are the major port terminals in Shenzhen.

Air

Shenzhen Airlines and Jade Cargo International are located at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport. The airport is 35 kilometres (22 miles) from central Shenzhen and connects the city with many other parts of China, and serves domestic and international destinations. The airport also serves as an Asian-Pacific cargo hub for UPS Airlines. Shenzhen Donghai Airlines has its head office in the Shenzhen Airlines facility on the airport property. SF Airlines has its headquarters in the International Shipping Center.

Railway

Shenzhen Railway Station is located at the junction of Jianshe Road, Heping Road and Renmin Nan Road and provides links to different parts of China. There are frequent high speed trains to Guangzhou, plus long-distance trains to Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Jiujiang, Maoming, Shantou and other destinations. The train from Hong Kong's Hung Hom MTR station to the Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau border crossings take 43 minutes and 45 minutes respectively.

Shenzhen West Station is located at Qianhai, Nanshan.This station is used for a small number of long distance trains, such as ones to Hefei.

Shenzhen North Railway Station opened in 2011 in Longhua. The station is currently handling high-speed trains to Guangzhou South, Guangzhou North, Changsha, Wuhan, Beijing and intermediate stations on the Beijing-Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong HSR route.

Shenzhen East Railway Station was opened in December 2012. It was originally called Buji station after the suburb it is located and was a Grade 3 station along the Guangshen Railway with no passenger services. Now after massive renovations, it currently handles mostly regional services.

Pingshan Railway Station is completed in 2013 to serve high-speed trains on the Xiamen-Shenzhen HSR route opened in 2013.

Futian Railway Station was completed by the end of 2015. It is completely underground, located in the centre of its namesake Futian District. The central location means it will become the focal point for most high-speed train services on the Beijing-Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong HSR route upon completion. Connection to West Kowloon Railway Station in Hong Kong is scheduled to be completed in late 2018, allowing for 15 minute cross-border train journeys.

Metro

The Shenzhen Metro system opened on 28 December 2004. Phase I has only two lines: the Luobao and Longhua lines. Luobao line is from Luohu (Lo Wu and Shenzhen railway stations) to the Window of the World (Overseas Chinese Town). The Longhua line is from Futian Kouan (Futian checkpoint; it was named Huang Gang at first) to Shaonian Gong (Children's Palace). The Shenzhen Metro currently has 6 lines, 149 stations, and 260 kilometres (160 mi) of total trackage in operation.

In June 2011, the Shenzhen Metro extended the Luobao and Longhua lines. The Luobao line runs from Luohu to Shenzhen Bao'an Airport and the Longhua line (now operated by MTR) runs from Futian Kouan (Futian Checkpoint) to Qinghu. Also in June 2011, three lines of the second phase opened before the 26th summer Universiade. They are Line 2 (Shekou line) (from Chiwan to Xinxiu), Line 3 (Longgang line) (from Yitian to Shuanglong), and Line 5 (Huanzhong line) (from Qianhaiwan to Huangbeiling). Line 11 opened in June 2016, while Lines 7 and 9 will also open later in the year.

Sea

Shekou Passenger Terminal in Shekou provides regular ferry transport to and from Zhuhai, Macau, Hong Kong International Airport, Kowloon, and Hong Kong Island.

Fuyong Passenger Terminal in Bao'an near the airport provide services to and from Hong Kong (Hong Kong International Airport) and Macau(Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal and Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal)

Environment

Tourist destinations, parks and resorts

Major tourist attractions of Shenzhen include the China Folk Culture Village, Window of the World, Happy Valley, Splendid China, the Safari Park in Nanshan district, Chung Ying Street(a street dividing Shenzhen and Sha Tau Kok, Hong Kong), Xianhu Botanical Gardens, Minsk World, amongst others. The city also offers free admission to over twenty public city parks including People's Park, Lianhuashan Park, Lizhi Park, Zhongshan Park, and Wutongshan Park.

Overseas Chinese Town (OCT)

The OCT East (东部华侨城) development in Yantian District is also an events hotspot, featuring the Ecoventure Valley (大侠谷) and the Tea Stream Resort Valley (茶溪谷) theme parks, three scenic themed towns, two 18-hole golf courses and eight themed hotels. OCT East was joined in 2012 by the OCT Bay (欢乐海岸) development in Nanshan, which brought more attractions including an exhibition center, hotels and residences, an artificial beach called CoCo Beach, and an IMAX cinema.

Shekou

Shekou is a former industrial zone with a largely expatriate residential community, also home to a large shopping district called Sea World (海上世界) where a former French cruise liner Minghua (明华), (known in French formerly as MS Ancerville) is cemented into the ground to become a hotel complex. Shekou was expanded and renovated in recent years, partially via land reclamation.

Beaches

Beaches in Shenzhen include Dameisha and Xiaomeisha in Yantian and Xichong Beach in the south of Dapeng Peninsula.

Museums and exhibitions

• Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center
• Shenzhen Civic Center
• Shenzhen Cultural Center, where the city's Central Music Hall and library are located

Media

The famous Shenzhen Daily is the news outlet for Shenzhen. It also covers local, national and international news.

Sports

The planned Shenzhen Universiade Sports Center Gymnasium will be one of the venues for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Shenzhen has two local football clubs, Shenzhen F.C. and Shenzhen Renren F.C., who both play home games at the 40,000 capacity Bao'an Stadium. Shenzhen F.C. was one of the earliest professional football clubs in Guangdong, originally owned by memberships, later turned to shareholding. The team won Chinese Super League title in 2004 season despite severe financial problems leaving players unpaid for seven months. The team currently plays in China League One, the second tier of Chinese football competition system.

Shenzhen Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium that hosts many events. The stadium is located in Futian District and has a capacity of 32,500. It was built in June 1993, at a cost of 141 million RMB. The 26th Summer Universiade was held in Shenzhen in August 2011. Shenzhen has constructed the sports venues for this first major sporting event in the city.

Shenzhen is also a popular destination for skateboarders from all over the world, due to the architecture of the city and its lax skate laws.

Education

Colleges and universities

• Shenzhen University
• Shenzhen Polytechnic
• Shenzhen Institute of Technology (深圳技师学院)
• Shenzhen Radio and TV University
• Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology
• Shenzhen Graduate School of Peking University
• Shenzhen Graduate School of Tsinghua University
• Shenzhen Graduate School of Harbin Institute of Technology
• South University of Science and Technology of China
• Peking University HSBC Business School
• Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
• Shanghai Jiao Tong University Antai Economics Management College , Shenzhen

International schools

• Vanke Meisha Academy
• Shenzhen American International School
• Shekou International School
• Shenzhen Japanese School
• QSI International School of Shenzhen
• International School of Nanshan Shenzhen
• Korean International School in Shenzhen
• Shenzhen College of International Education