Heritage and hardware: My trip to Shenzhen surprises and charms in equal measure

With Emirates launching direct flights, there is plenty to experience and savour in the southern Chinese city

Some great cities can overwhelm you with centuries of architecture and culture, but Shenzhen in China offers something entirely different: a chance to experience a land in transformation.

When the Chinese government declared the city as the country’s first Special Economic Zone in 1980, farmlands gave way to industrial corridors as companies including national behemoths Huawei and Tencent – both founded in the city – thrived under the favourable economic conditions.

Arriving in Shenzhen

The shedding of rural origins is visible from the air, as my Emirates flight descends towards the southern Chinese city – completing a near-eight-hour journey from Dubai across the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and mainland Southeast Asia.

Shenzhen is home to the world's largest electronics market, Huaqiangbei. Alamy

The approach into Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport reveals a city of planned zones, punctuated by green spaces such as the expansive Lianhuashan Park and Shenzhen Bay Park. Along the southern edge are the deep blue waters of the South China Sea stretching towards Hong Kong and Macau.

The airport itself, which is reportedly set to add a third runway this year, is understated. Clearing customs is relatively swift, and within half an hour of landing, I’m moving through a grand hall filled with filtered natural light. The terminal is wide, open – said to resemble a manta ray – and free of extravagant displays.

It provides an early glimpse of a city built for functionality and logistics rather than spectacle.

The 40-minute drive down the coastal Guangshen Expressway towards the city centre reveals more of the evolution. Land once made up of ricefields and marshes – threaded through the irrigation channels that gave Shenzhen, meaning “deep drains”, its name – is now occupied by dense districts that are home to more than 17 million people. I spot the outlines of Longgang, a major manufacturing hub of electronics such as smartphones and power supply units, and Futian, the city’s administrative and commercial core.

The glimmering outlines of China Resources Tower, shaped like a bamboo shoot, and the twin-glass Tencent Seafront Towers also rise in the distance as we near the slick Conrad Shenzhen hotel in the Nanshan district.

Tech walk in Huaqiangbei

One of the nine districts that make up Shenzhen, Nanshan is a quiet area, known for its tech campuses, public parks and universities. It provides a needed charge before I am thrust into the colour and frenzy of Huaqiangbei – the world’s largest electronics market and, for many entrepreneurs, the main reason to visit Shenzhen.

Huaqiangbei has close to 40,000 vendors. AFP

The market's scale hits me first. The strip may be only 800 metres long, but it's flanked by multistorey buildings packed with nearly 40,000 vendors. Most of the buildings don’t carry signs stating any specific wares or brands. You simply step in and get enveloped by endless booths – a sea of motherboards, loose cables, LED strips, soldering kits, phone cases and even neck massagers.

Behind booths, shopkeepers invite you to check the merchandise while keyboard and drum beats reverberate as customers test digital music pads nearby.

Though the market invites wandering, most people come here to get things done, whether it's seeking the latest podcast microphones, drones or mobile camera stands. Deals are made through translation apps, and haggling is expected. Payments happen in cash or via the easy-to-use Alipay app. I leave with a bundle of phone cords, a battery charger, two one-terabyte USB drives and a white eye massager shaped like a sleeping mask, all for 200 yuan (Dh102).

While Huaqiangbei feels initially chaotic, its sheer purposefulness is another reflection of Shenzhen as a city where things get done without fuss or ceremony.

Balance of science and culture

The buzz dims as I take a 40-minute taxi across Guangming district to reach the Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum.

Opened in May, the museum stands as a sign of Shenzhen’s planned shift from manufacturing hub to tech powerhouse.

The Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum was designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Photo: X

That ambition crystallises in the building itself. The sleek glass and steel facade, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, resembles a spacecraft.

The atrium, bound by curved silver walls and a large Chinese flag in the centre, feels like an airport terminal. Hundreds of students and families move towards kiosks selling entry tickets, priced at 50 yuan for adults.

Inside, the museum’s purpose is clear: spark a love of science early.

Exhibitions span four permanent halls and lean heavily on gamification. In the robotics and sustainability zones, children bang on taiko drums. The harder they strike, the more virtual energy is generated. A screen tracks an animated character racing towards a finish line, making learning a fun competition between friends. Nearby, robotic arms assemble coffee orders, while humanoid robots greet visitors. Other exhibits envision futures where technology works alongside humans, from robot surgeons to automated valet parking.

The messaging aims to inspire excitement at the opportunities technology offers up, rather than a fear of change.

But for all of its positioning as a tech and manufacturing hub, Shenzhen also maintains its respect for the past. The city’s own heritage is preserved and celebrated at Shenzhen Museum in Futian District and, more vividly, at the Splendid China Folk Culture Village.

A Great Wall of China miniature at Splendid China Folk Culture Village. Alamy

Located about 18km from the city centre, the sprawling 30-hectare site is divided into more than 20 sections, each replicating ethnic villages of China’s officially recognised minority communities.

You can traverse wooden stilt homes of the Dong people native to Guizhou Province, marvel at the intricate carvings of the Miao community and witness the swirling fan dance of the Dai people from Yunnan Province.

The village is vast, and the highlight of my stay was renting a buggy, for 50 yuan an hour, to explore the site at a languid pace. Cruising through its sections, I felt like I was inside a picture book, unfolding as I passed mini replicas of the Great Wall and a similarly scaled-down Forbidden City.

Lovingly preserved and charmingly quaint, the village should take up a priority spot on any Shenzhen itinerary.

Artistic alleyways

A 25-minute taxi ride away can have you experiencing the creative side of Shenzhen. The entrance to Dafen Oil Painting Village is a nondescript alley off a busy road, but once inside, the noise recedes as you arrive at a central courtyard from which narrow alleyways fan out to hundreds of tiny studios and galleries.

Once known for mass replication of famous artworks, Dafen Oil Painting Village is now home to original creations and galleries. Photo: Alamy

There are painters at work in almost every doorway. From the outside, some spaces appear no bigger than shoeboxes, others are more elaborate. I see a woman painting porcelain dolls beside a man copying Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night, seemingly from memory. Other artists recreate everything from traditional Chinese landscapes to vibrant video game characters such as Sonic the Hedgehog.

Once known for its mass production of cheap knock-offs of western masterpieces, the village’s reputation has changed over the past decade with galleries such as Sunrise Art Centre and TNT Contemporary Art Space now showcasing original work by local and regional artists.

Yes, you can haggle and take an accurate recreation home, but you can also pause and soak in the atmosphere. Get lost in the alleyways and find art you didn’t know you needed, or sit in one of the courtyard cafes where students gather and elderly men play chess.

Unlike Huaqiangbei, there’s no commercial urgency here. The fact that art is being made is all that matters.

Halal dining in Shenzhen

My final stop is a quiet dinner inside Muslim Hotel Restaurant, a modest but enduring presence in Shenzhen’s city centre. A TripAdvisor find, its name appeared on top lists of halal restaurants to try – also including Turkish-inspired Mevlana and Muslim Noodles Restaurant – with the added distinction that it’s been operating for more than 40 years.

The menu reflects the culinary heritage of China’s north-western Muslim communities, but adapted to the tastes of the southern port city. I order sauteed mushroom and spinach, beef baked dumplings and spicy chicken noodles for 204 yuan. It’s a homely and hearty meal that underscores the cohesion of Shenzhen, where tech markets and futuristic museums seamlessly sit alongside historical villages and culinary stalwarts.

It all forms part of a larger story in a city whose potential is still being written.

Emirates launched direct daily flights to Shenzhen in July, the airline's fourth destination in mainland China, with Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou