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About Shenzhen, China 
Shenzhen (深圳; pinyin: Shēnzhen; Cantonese:
sam1 dzan3; lit. deep drains) is a sub-provincial city
of Guangdong province in southern Mainland China, located
at the border with Hong Kong.
Table of contents
- History
- Administration
- Geography
- Integration
with Hong Kong
- Port
- Transportation
- Demographics
- Economy
- Entertainment
- Miscellaneous
- External
Links
-
History
- The one-time fishing village of Shenzhen, singled-out
by late Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平),
is a so-called one of the Special Economic Zones (SEZ)
in China originally established in 1978 in competition
with Hong Kong, then a British colony.
- Shenzhen, formerly known as "Bao'an County",
was promoted to prefecture level, directly governed
by the Guangdong province in November 1979. In May 1980,
Shenzhen was formally nominated as a 'special economic
zone,'the first one of its kind in China. It was given
the right of provincial-level economic administration
in November 1988.
-
Administration
- The Shenzhen Municipality is made up of six districts:
Luohu (羅湖), Futian (福田), Nanshan (南山), Yantian (鹽田),
Bao'an (寶安), and Longgang (龍崗). The first four are
located inside the Special Economic Zone while Bao'an
and Longgang are outside.
- Located in the centre of the SEZ and adjacent to
Hong Kong, Luohu is the financial and trading centre.
It covers an area of 78.89 km?. Futian, where the
Municipal Government is situated, is at the heart
of the SEZ and covers an area of 78.04 km?. Covering
an area of 164.29 km?, Nanshan is the centre for high-tech
industries and it is situated in the west of the SEZ.
Outsides the SEZ, Bao'an (712.92 km?) and Longgang
(844.07 km?) are located to the north-west and north-east
of Shenzhen respectively. Yantian (75.68 km?) is known
for logistics. Yantian Port is the second largest
deep water container terminal in China.
-
Geography
The boomtown of Shenzhen is located in the Pearl
River Delta. It covers an area of 2,020 square kilometres,
with a population of 4.05 million. Shenzhen is a sub-tropical
maritime region and its average temperature is 22.4
degrees Centigrade.
-
Integration with Hong Kong
However, aside from work and school, most visitors
that cross the Hong Kong SAR/China border to Shenzhen
go for the shopping, where goods and services are far
cheaper to those in Hong Kong. The largest of the shopping
malls is Lo Wu Commercial City, situated close to the
railway station. This contains an overwhelmimg array
of beauty parlours and stores selling clothes, handbags,
fabric, jewellery and electrical goods as well as many
vendors of pirated software, DVDs and counterfeit goods.
-
Port
- About nine container berths will come on stream in
2003 and 2004. The rapid growth of Shenzhen port, its
lower labour costs and its proximity to factories in
Guangdong province has put pressure on Hong Kong's terminals.
Shenzhen's total sea container throughput caught up
with Hong Kong's Kwai Chung port in August 2003, when
each handled 1.06 million twenty-foot-equivalent units
(TEUs) of goods.
- Shenzhen has moved more goods
than maninland China's busiest port of Shanghai for
the second month in September 2003.
- 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.
-
Transportation
Shenzhen can be reached by air, train, sea
or road.
- Shenzhen Airport is just 35km from central Shenzhen
and connects the city with many other parts of China,
as well as some international destinations. It is
normally cheaper for people based in Hong Kong to
fly to Mainland Chinese destinations from Shenzhen
than from Hong Kong, and it is usually cheaper for
those based in southern Mainland China to fly out
of Hong Kong to international destinations. The airport
is connected to the city by an airport bus route 330
which terminates at Hualian Dasha in Shennan Zhong
Lu. Other city buses also connect with the airport,
but some only turn round at the roundabout outside
leaving passengers with a long walk.
- Shenzhen Railway Station is located at the junction
of Jianshe Lu, Heping Lu and Renmin Nan Lu and provides
links to different parts of China. There are frequent
trains to Guangzhou, plus long-distance trains to Beijing,
Jiujiang, Maoming, Shantou and other destinations. The
train journey from Hong Kong's Kowloon Tong KCR station
to Lo Wu's border crossing takes approximately 40 minutes
at a cost of (in September 2003) HK$33, or HK$66 for
first class. Trains run every 3-8 minutes from 5.30am
to 11.00pm and the border crossing is open daily from
6.30am to midnight.
- There is another railway station located in Nanshan
District, Shenzhen Xi, which is used for a small number
of long distance trains, such as the one to Hefei.
- Since February 2003, the road border crossing with
Hong Kong at Huanggang has been open 24h. The journey
can be made by private vehicle or by bus. A shuttle
bus connects it with the Lok Ma Chau Public Transport
Interchange on the other side of the border.
- A metro system is currently under construction and
is due to open in 2004. It will have two lines, one
from Luohu (Lo Wu & Shenzhen railway stations)to
Window of the World, and the other from Huanggang to
a point further north.
- Taxis are metered and come in three colours. Red taxis
may travel anywhere, green ones are restricted to outside
the SEZ, and yellow ones are restricted to inside the
SEZ.
- Shenzhen is also connected by fast ferries linking
Shekou, on the west edge of the SEZ with Zhuhai, Macau,
Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.
-
Demographics
- Shenzhen has seen its population and activity develop
rapidly since the opening of the SEZ, with its population
rising to 5 million. Among the reasons for this development
is the cost of labour, which is substantially lower
than in neighbouring Hong Kong.
- 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 neighbouring
each other, daily commuters still need to pass through
customs and an immigration checkpoint as travel between
the SEZ and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(SAR) is restricted.
- China relaxed travel restrictions to allow individuals
from southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well
as Beijing and Shanghai, to visit Hong Kong in late
July 2003. Previously, mainland travellers could only
visit the city as part of tour groups.
- Immigration into Shenzhen from the Chinese interior
is heavily restricted by the hukou system. One consequence
is that just outside of Shenzhen there are large towns
which consist of blind flow migrants from the Chinese
interior.
-
Economy
- 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 are growing fast (1.44
million in 2001, increased by 11.6%).
- The Shenzhen Stock
Exchange was established on December 1, 1990. It is
one of the two stock exchanges in mainland China (the
other is in Shanghai). Analysts in Hong Kong now say
that Shenzhen, which is already taking market share
from Hong Kong in handling China's exports, is well
on its way to replacing Shanghai as the mainland's largest
port.
-
Entertainment
- Apart from commercial development, Shenzhen is also
a rising city for tourism. Although many visitors
do not venture beyond its sprawling concrete mass,
there are a number of different places to visit whilst
staying in Shenzhen:
- Window of the World (世界之窗)
Splendid China (錦繡中華微縮景區)
China Folk Culture Villages (中國民俗文化村)
Happy Kingdom (歡樂谷)
Safari Park Shen Zhen (深圳野生動物園)
Evergreen Resort (青青世界)
- At present, there are more than 50 scenic spots
and 139 star-ranked hotels. Shenzhen won the honour
of being entitled an "International Garden City"
at the "Green Oscars" in November 2000.
- A significant number of visitors, mostly from Hong
Kong, go to Shenzhen to taste wild animals and game
meat such as civet cat, a favourite delicacy for people
in southern China.
- However, some experts said that SARS virus was likely
to have originated from civet cat.
- Moreover, the massage services provided in Shenzhen
are also famous at relatively lower prices than those
in Hong Kong.
-
Miscellaneous
- Although Shenzhen enjoys a good reputation for shopping
and travel, some Hong Kong citizens are concerned
about the relatively high crime rate in Shenzhen.
Reports of Hong Kong businessmen, tourists or travellers
being robbed and kidnapped in Shenzhen are not uncommon
in Hong Kong newspapers.
- Shenzhen has been a sister city to Brisbane, Australia
since June 1992.
-
External Links
Shenzhen Government Online
Window of the World
Splendid China
Safari Park Shen Zhen
Evergreen Resort
China Travel Service
ShenzhenParty.com
Shenzhen Airport
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