Shenzhen Travel Guide

As an important foreign trade and international exchange port Shenzhen offers a fine environment for both investment and tourism. The city has been named "Garden city of State" and "the model city in environmental protection." In November 2000, it was selected as the "International Garden City" in Washington D.C. The Chinese Central Government, under Deng Xiaoping's leadership, established Shenzhen as China's first Special Economic Zone in 1979 to test free-market principles (and ensuing social effects) in a limited and controlled area that could later integrate with the world economy. At that time Shenzhen was a sleepy border with no infrastructure, and a citizenry uneducated in western practices. Shenzhen was chosen for its proximity to Hong Kong's capital and know-how, and because the Guangdong government at that time contributed very little to the central government's coffers. Thus Shenzhen could be an experiment with negligible investment from Beijing and with little risk to the national budget.

Geographical Features

Located at the southern coastal area of Guangdong Province, Shenzhen is a Special Economic Zone and important industrial base in China with an area of 2,021 square kilometers. Shenzhen is divided from Hong Kong by the Shenzhen River in the South, and is bordered by Dongguan and Huizhou to the north. Its adjoining sea is part of the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It is a natural port city with Daya Bay in the east and the Lingding Sea to the west.

Shenzhen has a subtropical maritime climate with plenty of rain and sunshine. It is not blazingly hot in the summer, a season that can last for as long as six months. It is mild in spring and autumn and not very cold in winter. The rainy season lasts from May to September. Typhoons usually occur in summer and autumn; luckily most typhoons are deflected by the mountains. Only about once in every two years, on average, is the urban area hit directly by a typhoon.

People

Shenzhen has a population of approximately 4 million. The main religion is Buddhism.