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🇨🇳 East Asia

Shenzhen

Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary, bordering Hong Kong to the south. With a population of 17.5 million in 2020, Shenzhen is the third-most-populous city by urban population in China after Shanghai and Beijing. The Port of Shenzhen is the world's fourth-busiest container port. In the early 1980s, the reform and opening up introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in the city becoming the first special economic zone of China due to its close proximity to Hong Kong. In thirty years, the city's economy and population boomed and has since emerged as a hub for technology, international trade, and finance.

Typical weather

1981–present
JFMAMJJASOND
springsummerdry-mild
coldcool warmhot ▢ outlined = best time to visit
JFMAMJJASOND
Best time to visit Jan, Feb, Oct, Nov, Dec — mild (15–26 °C mean) and not wet months.

Vital absurdities

measured · the Anti-Awards

What to do each season

3
Oct-Mar

dry-mild

mild and relatively dry; openmeteo mean 16.0-24.8 °C (Jan 16.0); dry (Oct-Mar, Dec driest 0.9 mm/day); frost very rare; but fog is frequent (106 fog days/year, winter-spring)

  • the comfortable outdoor window — the 1,090 parks, the Dameisha/Xiaomeisha beaches and the Wutongshan trails are at their best
  • the foggy winter-spring reduces visibility and sunshine (March only 27% possible sunshine)
Apr-May

spring

cloudy and warming; openmeteo mean 23.2-25.9 °C; 'early spring is the cloudiest time of year'; rainfall 'begins to dramatically increase in April'

  • the cloudy, increasingly wet spring — the build-up to the monsoon; the least sunny period
Jun-Sep

summer

the monsoon peak — hot and very humid; openmeteo mean 27.4-28.3 °C (Jul 28.3; extreme 38.7 °C); wet (Jun wettest 9.7 mm/day); typhoons 'strike from the east during summer and early autumn'; 9.7 days/yr of ≥50 mm rain

  • typhoon-season rain and humidity — the air-conditioned mall/OCT layer and the Metro (419 km) become the operative civic layer
  • the summer beaches (Dameisha, Xiaomeisha) at peak domestic-tourist density

What it is known for

'Shenzhen speed' (the boom / fast-construction culture)the first Special Economic Zone (1980, Deng Xiaoping)🏦the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (8th largest globally)the Port of Shenzhen (world's 4th-busiest container port)🏰Ping An Finance Centre (the tallest tower)the all-electric bus + taxi fleet (a world first; 70% EVs)🚇the Shenzhen Metro (419 km, 290 stations)Overseas Chinese Town / OCT (Window of the World, Splendid China)Dafen Village (the oil-painting production base)UNESCO City of Design (2008)chengzhongcun 'urban villages' (e.g. Baishizhou)a young migrant population (only 5.36% over 60)Hey Tea (the tea-shop chain)🌉the Pearl River Delta megaregion (~78M)🍷'Library City' (620 public libraries)

Important moments in a year

2011-08

2011 Summer Universiade

  • Shenzhen hosted the 26th Summer Universiade
  • major venue construction (Shenzhen Bay Sports Center, Universiade Sports Centre)
wikipedia:Sports
1980-05

Sez Designation

  • Shenzhen became China's first Special Economic Zone under Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up
  • the founding act of the 'Shenzhen speed' boom
wikipedia:lead
annual since 2015

Robomaster

  • RoboMaster — DJI's annual intercollegiate robot competition, hosted in Shenzhen
  • a tech-city signature event
wikipedia:Sports
2019-2028 (annual)

Wta Finals

  • Shenzhen hosts the WTA Finals, the season-ending women's tennis championship
wikipedia:Sports

On the record

source-tracked
nature

Although Shenzhen is situated about a degree south of the Tropic of Cancer … it has a warm, monsoon-influenced, humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa).

wikipedia:Climate
nature

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.

wikipedia:Climate
nature

The monsoon reaches its peak intensity in the summer months, when the city also experiences very humid and hot conditions. Some of [the annual precipitation] is delivered in typhoons that strike from the east during summer and early autumn.

wikipedia:Climate
history

In the early 1980s, the reform and opening up introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in the city becoming the first special economic zone of China due to its close proximity to Hong Kong.

wikipedia:lead
history

In thirty years, the city's economy and population boomed and has since emerged as a hub for technology, international trade, and finance.

wikipedia:lead
social

The competitive culture that the city promotes among the youth have also used the term 'Shenzhen speed'.

wikipedia:Culture
movement

Shenzhen is noted for being the first major city worldwide to only use electric buses and taxis. As of 2023, 70% of cars in Shenzhen were electric vehicles.

wikipedia:Transport
movement

The Shenzhen Metro in 2022 reaches 419 kilometres of route operating on 12 lines with 290 stations.

wikipedia:Transport
social

Most of these migrants live in urban villages called chengzhongcun ('village in the city') such as Baishizhou in the Nanshan District.

wikipedia:Demographics
social

As Shenzhen is a young city, senior citizens above 60 years old took up only 5.36 percent of the city's total population.

wikipedia:Demographics
everyday

Shenzhen is part of the Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region … the world's largest urban area according to the World Bank, which has a population of 78 million.

wikipedia:Demographics
social

Shenzhen was awarded by UNESCO the title of 'United Nations Design Capital' and was accepted entry into the Creative Cities Network on 7 December 2008.

wikipedia:Culture
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