This page contains background information about Shenzhen, and the region of China called the Pearl River Delta.
Pearl River Delta
The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is located in the province Guangdong in Southern-China and has been formed by sediment deposits from the Pearl River. The area is about 8600 8600km2 large, roughly equal in size to a quarter of the Netherlands. The delta region has a rectangular shape with the cities Guangzhou, Macau and Hong Kong on the corners. The three most important cities of Mainland China are Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai.
Guangzhou en Zhuhai
Guangzhou is the capital of the province Guangdong. It's the largest coastal city in Southern China with an area of about 7300 km2. Guangzhou governs 10 districts and two cities. The total population in 2001 was about 7.1 million people and the GDP was ¥38.568. This made Guangzhou the 8th richest city of China
Zhuhai lies on the western edge of the Pearl River Delta and borders in the south to Macau. The city covers an area of 7649 km2 and has a population of about 1.25 million. The GDP per capita was ¥66.551 in 2001, making it the third richest city in China.
Shenzhen (Chinees: 深圳) is a big city in South China in the south of the province Guangdong and the south of the city borders the north border of Hong Kong. The city has about 12 million inhabitants and about 8 million of them are official residents (hold a 'hukou'). Shenzhen covers an area of 2020 km2 and is known for its many parks and in 2001 won an international award as 'garden city'.
Shenzhen started out as a small fishing village, but since the designation as 'Speciale Economische Zone (SEZ)' by Deng Xiaopin in 1980, Shenzhen has expanded and grown to the current modern world city.
Geography and layout of the city
Shenzhen streches from West to East and can be divided into several districts. In the west is Bao'an district, next to the east Nanshan. Part of Nanshan is called Shekou and many foreigners traditionally live there. More central you will get Futian (where I currently live) and Luohu district. Even further eastwards we get the small district Yantian and the big district Longgang. The three districts Nanshan, Futian and Luohu form the heart of Shenzhen but the government of Shenzhen is putting greater emphasis on the development of other districts such as Bao'an.
Photo from Shenzhen at sunset Februari 10th 2010 , taken from the Tencent office in Nanshan, looking to the east (towards Baoan and the sea).
Shenzhen had a labour force of about 3.3 million people in 2001, although this number is probably outdated and I would not be surprised if it was two times as much now. The GDP per capita wildly varies in reported by different sources. According to the city it was US$ 5604,60 in 2002. According to some other research it was ¥136.071 in 2001, making it the richest city of China. A famous Chinese saying is is:
you're brave until you go to Manchuria, you think you're well-read
until you reach Beijing, and you think you're rich until you set foot
Shenzhen has as only one of three Chinese cities (Shanghai and Hong Kong are the other two) their own stock exchange called the Shenzhen Stock Exchange . This exchange was founded in 1990. Shenzhes harbor rivals that of Shanghai and Hong Kong measured by export of Chinese goods. In 2005 Shenzhen was the fourth busiest harbor in the world measured by the number of containers and was growing much faster than Hong Kong.
In 2008 Shenzhen was selected as the most innovative city in China, before Hong Kong and Shanghai. Shenzhen holds the edge over Hong Kong in technological innovation and cultural and environmental aspects, according to the study . Shenzhen was 4th in investment environment(after HK, Beijing and Shanghai). It ranked 3rd in livability (after Hangzhou and Hong Kong).
Half October 2008, the expansion of the current High-Tech park in Shenzhen officially started. The 3 billion yuan (US$439 million) software base, which covers 150,000 square meters and will be funded by the Shenzhen government, will be put into operation in 2010. Shenzhen built a software park in the high-tech park 10 year ago. It is home to more than 400 companies with 40,000 employees. The output of the city’s software industry reached 86 billion yuan in 2007, accounting for 15 percent of the country’s total. Software exports reached US$4.5 billion last year.
Read more about the IT-sector Shenzhen
Shenzhen can be reached by water, air and land. Although most foreigners will arrive in Shenzhen by airport from Hong Kong or Guangzhou, Shenzhen als has it's own airport and various boat- and trainconnections.
Read more about Transport Shenzhen
Shenzhen has a subtropical climate with warm humid summers and dry moderate winters. Read more in the article Weather and Climate Shenzhen.
What to do / tourism in Shenzhen?
Shenzhen is not famous for its scenic spots, but you can still enjoy your time in Shenzhen. I have collected several tips, which you can access via the menu on the left, or via these links:
|Last Updated ( Saturday, 04 December 2010 )|