Found: The City Where Walking is Set to 'Nightmare Difficulty'.

[Mattie Lockman]

Hey everyone planning to visit Shenzhen! I want to share some of my “hard-won” transportation experiences:

• Motorcycles and E-bikes Filling the Sky:

  • In theory, bicycles and electric bikes – known as “non-motorized vehicles” (vehicles that are not as large as cars and do not require a special driving license) – should not be on car lanes. However, here in Shenzhen, motorcycles zip right through pedestrian sidewalks!
  • Food delivery drivers on their e-bikes dart about, either going with traffic flow or against it, seemingly paying little attention to pedestrians. They drive however they please.
  • ️ WARNING! Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open While Walking!
    • You never know when a motorcycle may suddenly emerge from any direction.
    • Once while I let a motorcycle behind me pass by, another one came head-on with me and almost scraped, which left me speechless!
    • How To Avoid It: Be vigilant and check all around whenever you are crossing roads or walking on sidewalks.

• Narrow Roads and Chaotic Parking:

  • Many roads here are already narrow, and cars are parked everywhere along the sides, making it even harder for pedestrians to walk.

• Crossing Roads Feels Like Running Obstacles:

  • Want to reach the other side of a street? Though it may appear to be right in front of you, you might need to first go down two flights of stairs to an underpass, then struggle up two more flights of stairs to get out.
  • ️ CAUTION! Elevators Can Be Decorations Only!
    • The elevators (lifts) in those underground passages often don’t work at all.
    • How To Deal With This: If you have heavy luggage or mobility issues, try to plan your route ahead and see if there is a pedestrian crossing nearby you can use; otherwise, be mentally prepared to take the escalator or staircase.

• A Pedestrian’s Status? Invisible!

  • Here in Shenzhen, it feels like cars reign supreme, followed by motor- and electric bikes. For pedestrians, we seem to come last.
  • Walking through Shenzhen can prove quite inconvenient, feeling like we're trying to survive in every nook and cranny of the city. Each day feels like stepping into a thrilling movie!

So dear visitors to Shenzhen, make sure you pay double extra attention while walking! Wishing you safe travels (fingers crossed)!

[Beatrice Thiel]

You're dodging e-bikes and trying to avoid stepping in spit, all while breathing in secondhand smoke.

[Dr. Ruben Larkin MD]

Hahahaha, how did you know? I almost stepped in spit from the person in front of me!

[Karen Bruen]

It's hopeless. The management is just awful, a total 'let it rot' approach. Pedestrians have completely lost their right-of-way.

[Bonnie Beatty]

How can you call it 'letting it rot'? They're clearly very proactive – busy ticketing cars that aren't driving on the sidewalk every day!

[Justin Zieme]

We've been complaining about this for ages, but nobody takes charge, and nobody cares.

[Lena Oberbrunner]

It's truly outrageous. The sidewalks are already so narrow, and then they're crammed with all those shared bikes and e-bikes. The tiny path left has to accommodate more bikes and e-bikes coming from both directions. It's incredibly tough for pedestrians! Why not just build more pedestrian bridges and give people a proper way to walk? I even saw a comment elsewhere saying pedestrians are just 'idle people with nothing better to do.' I'm utterly speechless.

[Kelvin Shanahan DVM]

You might as well just get an e-bike and join the chaos. Shenzhen isn't designed for walking, and they certainly don't encourage it.

[Kendra Howe]

In my two years in Shenzhen, I've seen more than twice the number of e-bikes than I saw in my hometown over 20 years combined.

[Faye O'Conner]

If you want to be treated like a human being in Shenzhen, the standards are ridiculously high, you know.

[Ada Muller]

The actual hierarchy is: e-bikes/scooters > cars = pedestrians .

[Mattie Lockman]

Near my subway station, they even removed the green space between two trees specifically for e-bikes and scooters to park, but they still park haphazardly everywhere.

[Marion Barrows]

I really miss those leisurely strolls from my childhood... Now, walking almost gives me PTSD. Every time I turn a corner, I have to look back repeatedly to check for speeding e-bikes. That feeling when there's an e-bike zooming at you from the front, and another one behind you honking to rush you along... it's a uniquely awful thrill.

[Susie Kutch-Green]

You mean electric scooters/e-bikes, right? Shenzhen hardly has any actual motorcycles.