Shenzhen/Center

Shenzhen's city center, consisting of the two districts of Futian and Luohu, has everything you'd expect from a thriving international city—skyscrapers, shopping, museums, performances—but is also surprisingly green, with huge, lovely parks and mountains. This is the main area that most visitors to Shenzhen experience, with its humongous electronics markets, fashionable residents, and border crossings to Hong Kong.

Get in
The Shenzhen metro system is centered in this area, so getting here from other parts of Shenzhen should not be a problem. The main border crossings from Hong Kong – Futian and Luohu – also lead to this area, as you would expect from their names.

From Shenzhen airport, take metro Line 11, which may lead you directly to where you want to go; if not, you can transfer at Chegongmiao, Futian or Gangxia North.

By train
(services to Hong Kong, Guangzhou and further destinations including Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin) and (services to Guangzhou and slow trains to further destinations). If travelling via the major hub Shenzhen North railway station (providing services to Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ganzhou etc.), take metro Line 4 or 6 to this area.

Electronics
As the home of a dazzling array of electronics manufacturers and related businesses, Shenzhen naturally has huge stores selling a wide variety of electronics, both parts and consumer products.

Huaqiangbei (华强北, Huáqiángběi) shopping area, centered around the street of the same name (华强北路, Huáqiángběi Lù), is the absolute epicenter of the world's electronics industry. Huaqiangbei Street is pedestrian-only for a few blocks between Shennanzhong Street (深南中路, Shēnnánzhōng Lù) and Hongli Street (红荔路, Hónglì Lù). There are several large electronics markets and many smaller stores situated on both sides of the pedestrian street and particularly in the small streets and lanes running parallel. One famously devotes itself to stealth and security. If haggling isn't your thing, you can also get good prices on consumer electronics at Suning. Gome and Sundan stores at the northern end of the street. The pedestrian street is bustling, and there are good small restaurants on the streets nearby. Starbucks is here too. Most of the stores will close at around 5 or 6PM.

The shopping area is easy to reach by subway, with three stations along the pedestrian street: Huaqiang North Station (华强北站), Huaqiang Road Station (华强路站), and Huaxin Station (华新站).

The big electronics markets each consist of several floors full of small stalls specializing in different kinds of electronics or accessories. You can buy anything electronic here, though keep in mind that the markets are aimed at Chinese buyers, which means that, for instance, accessories for brands that aren't popular in China may be hard to find. A few products are labeled bilingually, though most are only in Chinese. Most vendors in the big markets should be able to speak enough English to make a sale, or at least have a calculator to type prices. Below are some of Huaqiangbei's well-known electronics markets, and there are plenty more in the area.



Eat
Food is generally more expensive here than in the suburbs, especially in the central business district.

Coco Park
Outside the Coco Park shopping complex (mentioned above) is the bar street of Futian, with all kinds of bars packed into the middle of the block. It's expensive but upscale. During bar hours it's notoriously hard to find food beyond a few noodle shops or convenience stores.



Go next

 * Western Shenzhen, Eastern Shenzhen, or Nanshan
 * Hong Kong