What is it like to live in Shenzhen?

We have a Q&A “What is it like to live in Shenzhen, China?” on our website.

Many of users put their comments, we sort our their comments here:

Shenzhen is the best city I have been and I never want to leave again. You have so many things you can do in Shenzhen and lots of opportunities to go to events, because of shenzhenparty.com . The weather suits perfect to me and the air is one of the bests in China. I like the enivornment, tidiness, subway, bus, every place I have been in Shenzhen. You can do almost everything in Shenzhen. Moreover because lots of people in Shenzhen are coming from all over China, you will have lots of opportunities to meet whole china and their culture. There is no place where you can have better experience. Lots of nice gardens, attractions, different kinds of restaurants, nice people. Everything is the best and I can say: Shenzhen is the best city for me.

Kevin Long Noll

Shenzhen has so much to do and see whether you are coming in for a few days or a few years. Here the weather is beautiful year round – I love biking along the coast from Futian all the way to Shekou on my free days. The beaches are great and made even better with a beach party with friends. The environment is some of the best to be had in China: lush green gardens, clean streets, convenient transportation, an amazing new airport, international friends and food. For tourists, there are parks, museums, concerts and so much more. Shenzhen offers loads of events including sports, music, culture, business networking and nightlife. There is literally something for everyone here!

Lauren DeGarmo

Since the first Time I set foot into China, I always stayed in the north, which is fine during summer. But in the winters, I hated the cold and the air quality. Being a German native from Berlin, I am always afraid that whereever I go the balance between urban lifestyle and nature won’t be the same. Then in 2013 I arrive in Shenzhen, and I was aw struck by its size, all the trees – there are mangos growing on the street – and the good air. I just extended my contract and hope to stay many more years in this wonderful city.

Thank you shenzhenparty, without you I would have not found my cool appartment and would have missed a lot of cool events, such as the Winde and Cheese.

Patrick N.

The environment is some of the best to be had in China: lush green gardens, clean streets, convenient transportation, an amazing new airport, international friends and food. For tourists, there are parks, museums, concerts and so much more. Shenzhen offers loads of events including sports, music, culture, business networking and nightlife. There is literally something for everyone here!

prasads

Although I am relatively new to Shenzhen, I am not new to China. I have already fallen in love with this city, and it has everything to do with the people, the weather, and the design.

The weather is incredible. Sure, it will get hot in the summer, sure I will have to change my sweaty shirt during the day, but I certainly beats freezing my face off in the Northern China winter rain. Even though this city is big, the air quality is no where near as bad as Shanghai’s or Beijing’s.

The people! It is nice to live in a city where I am not being constantly stared at or approached because I am the token laowai. Maybe I have some bias, coming from a small town, but it still leaves an overall good feeling. The people are friendly, anyone is willing to answer a question or help you if you are lost. The expat community, so far, seems nice and tightly knit.

The design is incredible. I went to the Civic Center to walk up to the Deng tower for the first time. The view was incredible. There are some many buildings that have such an interesting architectural personality, that it is a pleasure to simply look around.

I live in the best city in China, if not the world!

I think I live in the best city in China, if not the world.

SamB

Shenzhen is a great city. I have been for 6 months and I never want to leave. There are so many things to see and do herein Shenzhen. The environment is of the best China has to offer! It has everything from convenient transportation, parks and green gardens, sporting events, museums, malls airport, ferry, international friends and food and concerts so much more. Shenzhen offers loads of events including sports, music, culture, business networking and nightlife. There is always something on for everyone here!

The weather suits perfect to me and the air is one of the bests in China. I like the enivornment, tidiness, subway, bus, every place I have been in Shenzhen. You can do almost everything in Shenzhen. Moreover because lots of people in Shenzhen are coming from all over China, you will have lots of opportunities to meet whole china and their culture. There is no place where you can have better experience. Lots of nice gardens, attractions, different kinds of restaurants, nice people. Everything is the best and I can say:

Sean Rayner

Shenzhen is the best city for young people in china. it’s more open than other cities. people are here with their dreams without their relatives. i have been here for more than 1 year. i like the warm weather the beautiful palm trees. you can see the blue skies in the most time of a year. and the beaches are within 2 hours driving. its very easy to access HK from sz. so everything in HK is within your reach especially for the people love music,you wont miss any great international concerts in HK if you live in shenzhen (as we all know the living cost is much cheaper in shenzhen than in HK

Simona

Shenzhen is an unexpected city to me. I am from Taiwan and had been living in China for more than 3 years – 1 & half year in Shanghai then 1 & half year in Beijing. I just came last week and gonna stay till end Sept for a project.

Before coming, I stereotyped Shenzhen as a industrial city with porn business everywhere. I didn’t have much expectation on Western type of community or lifestyle here. Unexpectally, last Sunday I went biking with colleagues alone Shenzhen Bay area which is not so far from our apartment under clear sky and nice sunshine, I discovered the other side of Shenzhen that I would never imagained. The area is just so nice and so easy to hang around. The Bay is absolutely beautiful and so relaxing. It really opened up my mind and make me feel it’s a place that needs to be explored.

Luckily I found this website and seems like a good guide to start my exploration in Shenzhen. I hope I can build up networks, be able to try new things and make the most out of my 7 months experience here.

Sharon Yeh

After 7 years in Shenzhen im looking to.get.out.of.here. its just too difficult to get a visa here. I mean fly back home to get a work visa, thats crap. You dont need to do crap like that in other cities. Shenzhen, the city run by shang ba lao’s

mike fam

Shenzhen is really a nice city, good weather, good places, good food, good people….

What is it really like to live in Shenzhen?

You’ve already gotten the most inportant reasons for me to be in this magnificent city. Speaking for myself, there isn’t a lot to add!

Harold Pekel

From a Chinese’s perspective, one great thing about living in Shenzhen is you can meet so many people from differnt parts of China. No one is originallly from Shenzhen so I’m grateful to live in this melting pot of Chinese from differnt provinces.

Moreover, it is also an international city with fast pace of life. How can you possibly get bored with the exciting life here? All in all it’s great to live here.

Yao Fai

Modern, Fun, Exciting

Living in Shenzhen is unlike any other place I have been to in China. The best part about it all for me is the convenient metro system, which can take you almost all the way to the airport, and down across the border into Hong Kong for your shopping needs, or island getaways. I come from Canada so it took me a lot of adjusting to the weather climate here. At first I couldn’t walk more than a few blocks without stopping for a cold drink in the august heat ha ha! Now that I am used to it, it’s a really nice change from the cold winters I have lived through in the north. I love getting lost in the streets and stumbling upon the markets bustling with interesting food and creatures, all the way to the huge shopping and eating district in Lohu. Shenzhen has surprised me in a lot of ways, my apartment is that of which I didn’t expect to ever come across in China (really modern and western). And everything seems to be so convenient here when it comes to events and concerts –we don’t have to feel so out of the loop as I have experienced in other places in China. Overall, Shenzhen for me is modern, fun, exciting, and when you find time there’s always unlimited things to do in and around here, and thanks to shenzhenparty.com we are always kept updated.

Hailey Covello

Shenzhen is a very massive city. There are many people here. It is very very crowded, with millions of people going to specific isolated areas, such as laojie, luohu, huaqiangbei and more. It has many attractions that make it very enjoyable like Window of the World, OCT, Splendid China, and many more. The city is a tourist paradice of a city, so many things to do. The residence is nice too, you can get “away” from the city very quick via subway. The subway is VERY convenient to navigate through the city. It is easy to become dependent on the subway though. There are many ways to travel, it is also very convenient to take the bus. If you live in the righ locations, the bus is very quick. There is a lot of pollution and not many very clear days. The weather is also very unpredictable. Some days its very hot, then the next day very cold. I think that is just because of the winter time. It is located more south than Florida making it closer to the equator and thus making it warmer, but in the winter it gets colder than Florida! I will say you can get ANYTHING here. ANYTHING that is made is here in Shenzhen. Hongkong is only 30 minutes away. Hongkong has everything to do. Concerts, shows, events, parks, etc. This reall is an amazing place, just a few too many people in such a congested area.

Nick Stefan

Shenzhen to me is…having mystery meat in a hot pot on the street in Baishizhou…singing my lungs out at a KTV in Coastal City…falling asleep on the long bus home and waking up in an industrial park…feeding tigers and bears, oh my, at the Xili Zoo…screaming for dear life on a ride that questionably operates at the Dongmen amusement park…dancing on an upraised stage at the Evening Show…playing the dice game at the Kingway Beer Garden in Bao’an…waking up under a colorful angel at Dameisha…exercising bargaining skills at the Luohu Commercial City…and returning to the city after four years away to find that this is home.

ambrr31

Let me tell you what is like to live in Shenzhen.

1. Great weather most time of a year, probably 1-2 month of tolerant coldness.

2. Imagine a city with varieties of delish food from all over the world, you would have such a hard time to choose from the options.

3. Melting bowl and truly a city of dreams. An open minded city embracing all kinds of differences. Doesn’t matter where you are from and what you do here, once came to shenzhen, you are a shenzhen er that can make a difference as long as you want.

4. Tons of fun activities you can do and organizations you can join. (Hiking, hash, beach , surfing, clubbing, shopping, frisbee, business development, etc.)It’s a great way to meet amazing people from everywhere and explore together.

5. Last but not the least, shenzhen is such a young vibrant city and the little brother to Hong Kong and Macau. A weekend trip to those two cities can always add up the fun of living in Shenzhen .

Anyway, one wouldn’t ever regret the experience of living in Shenzhen!

LuluDiva

Shenzhen is great especially its public transportation, parks, recreational facilities and shopping miles. OCT, COCOPARK, SEAWORLD these are the hottest places to be at this time. So do not miss anything.

Bäckerei Thomas

Living in Shenzhen is everything you make it to be. The people are terrific, the food is incredible, the traffic sucks, the landscape is one of a kind, the experiences here I will carry on for the rest of my life and the friends I make here are among the best I have. I love this place and wouldnt go anywhere else and I say that after travelling to 84 countries in my life. But thats just what I make of it.

guillermo clark

It’s a roller coaster ride living in Shenzhen. It’s never dull. Full of fun and adventure. It’s not easy at first of course, but for the past 8 years, I’ve seen it grown to a beauty. It’s like a magical carnival full of surprises. You’ll never know what it’ll offer but it will keep you coming back. It’s like my second home and I must say, I know how to live more and independently here in Shenzhen than on my own country. If there will come a time that I have to bid farewell to Shenzhen, I’ll forever treasure all the great memories I have, friends I’ve met, and the experiences that made me stronger. Hope others too will be able to see this unravelled side of Shenzhen.

Little Dreamer

Shenzhen is a vibrant, modern, international city. One minute, you can be fully immersed in China, and a short taxi ride later, you can be enjoying international company and surroundings. The people here are friendly and the scenery is beautiful!

Kate Hummel

Living in Shenzhen is an adventure every day. It’s hell and paradise at the same time. And just when you think you’ve seen it all, Shenzhen manages to surprise you again, time after time. In this bustling city I’ve met the most diverse people, said hello to strangers more than i can count, seen relations grow and most of all made friends for life.

Sure, there are a few downsides to Shenzhen as well. It’s busy, the air quality isn’t the best and it gets damn hot in summer. But at the end of this crazy roller coaster ride, there is no other city in the world where I would rather be.

Simon Derbaix

Living in shenzhen is a combination of adventure, culture mix, and survival for me. Meeting lots of people is always part of a foreigners life but like they say we filter the ones the matters most and those are the people we consider as friends. The adventure lies in the activites you do with them. The culture mix is pretty much seen all around and have also infected some chinese I know as far as outlook in ilfe is! Survival is part of life since I cant read signages in chinese but with my little mandarin am able to get by. I thank China for being a part of my life and shenzhen most especially were i have been living in for more than 9 years!

jay gutierrez

For me what makes Shenzhen so unique as a city is its people and the environment that it creates from this. This makes it such a vibrant place to live where anything can happen on a daily basis; its just up to you to make the most of it! Of course there are so many things on offer in Shenzhen but here are just a few of my favorite things that I like to do and places that I always return to visit.

In terms of food you can enjoy a variety of different cuisines to suit your tastes. For some amazing seafood I usually go to Le Yuan Lu where I can find a huge variety of seafood types, guaranteed to be fresh and many of which are unique to China and so are types that I have never tried before. For some flavorsome Islamic food I go to Zhong Fa Yuan Muslim restaurant which has really tender mutton ribs which fall off the bone so easily. These are just a few examples but overall the choice for food is just endless and so for me it is exciting enough just to be able to try all these different types of tastes available.

With Shenzhen’s rapid expansion it would be easy to forget that there are so many different parks and public spaces which are available to people. Probably my favorite park to relax is the LycheePark (Lizhi Gongyuan) as it contains a beautiful lake which adds to the tranquility of the place. Other good parks to visit are the Xianhu Botanical Gardens and there is also even a great hiking spot to go to (Wu Tong Shan) when the weather conditions are good. The hike is definitely worth it just to get some great aerial views of Shenzhen and even some parts of Hong Kong.

I am very keen on art and so the OCT Art Loft is one of my favorite places to visit especially with their focus on exhibiting more cutting-edge and contemporary artworks and designers. If you work in the design industry (like myself) then this is also a great place to meet other creative minds and gain a greater understanding of the city. For more of a local artistic perspective I usually head out to the DafanArtVillage where I can view original artworks and gain a more knowledgeable understanding of Chinese art both contemporary and historical . I have even bought some artworks from here previously so it is a great place to pick up a unique gift.

There are so many other things that make living in Shenzhen an interesting experience for me and so Im always reminded of the huge spas, quaint little coffee shops (Old Heaven Books in OCT), funky side streets, vibrant bars and clubs and of course the numerous outdoor markets which make up the essence of the city. What this shows is that it offers is a mix of everything to everyone no matter where you come from.

Overall its recent urban development makes it a city which is changing all the time but one which can therefore choose its own destiny and be shaped by the people that live there. This is especially true for the younger generation today as they have the opportunity to create a new environment/city which can be unlike any other seen before. So for adventurous, ambitious and creative minds this is the city to be living in right now. Its these people that make it so exciting and for me that is what is most important, as the opportunity to shape the future of Shenzhen is in the hands of us the people that live here.

Chris Chambers