Map of Shenzhen- China

Shenzhen is a major city in Guangdong Province, China and one of the five largest and wealthiest cities of 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 Kowloon–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 into a city with a 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. The population of Shenzhen proper slowed down to less than one percent per year by 2013 with growth spilling over the muncipal border and forming a contiguous urban area with southern Dongguan and Huizhou Cities.

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.

Population

Shenzhen is located in the Guangdong Province in China, and it has become one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas. The 2016 population for the metropolis is 10.828 million, a slight increase from the estimated 10.78 million recorded at the end of 2014.

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.

Currency

Currency of Shenzhen. The official currency of China is the renminbi (RMB), of which the standard unit is the yuan. Notes come in denominations of 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 yuan; 5, 2 and 1 jiao and 5, 2 and 1 fen.

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.

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 portion 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.

Religion

According to 2010 data collected by a University of Southern California research project, approximately 37{dd3fc91305d706339d2a972fee4c4be416a1609ce35bc12a88463f7714226b6e} of Shenzhen residents were practitioners of Chinese folk religions, 26{dd3fc91305d706339d2a972fee4c4be416a1609ce35bc12a88463f7714226b6e} are Buddhists, 18{dd3fc91305d706339d2a972fee4c4be416a1609ce35bc12a88463f7714226b6e} Taoists, 2{dd3fc91305d706339d2a972fee4c4be416a1609ce35bc12a88463f7714226b6e} Christians and 2{dd3fc91305d706339d2a972fee4c4be416a1609ce35bc12a88463f7714226b6e} Muslims; 15{dd3fc91305d706339d2a972fee4c4be416a1609ce35bc12a88463f7714226b6e} were unaffiliated to any religion.

Transport

Road

See also: List of roads in Shenzhen

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 Shenzhen–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. The green taxis are restricted to travel outside of the original Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) (Futian, Nanshan, Luohu and Yantian districts). 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 opened later in the year making it one of the top ten longest systems in the world. Several additional Lines and extensions are under construction.

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)