Shenzhen: Confirmed. Just a Place to Hustle, Not to Holiday.

[Edith Friesen]

Alright, let me share my grievances about this "Rant Conference" with you, ensuring our foreign friends can follow along!

This is my session of venting, listen closely!

• Shenzhen! Oh boy, it's not just hot, it's scorching!

• Today, my friend and I were thrilled to explore Shenzhen through 'city walking' - a leisurely meander around the city to experience its culture and lifestyle.

  • Previously, I often criticized Guangzhou's metro for insufficient air conditioning. Now in Shenzhen, I found out it's even more oppressive!

• Not only is the metro in Shenzhen as hot as a steam room, but even the large shopping malls are just as warm! You feel like they've forgotten to pay their electricity bills everywhere you go...

  • We explored three large malls today: Fang Yi Cheng, and two called World Trade Center. In all of them, the air conditioning was inadequate!

  • We had to walk around the mall with small fans to get a breeze. We were smart to have brought our own fans, or we could have ended up fainting from the heat.

  • Insider tip (or a lesson learned):

    • Carry a small fan along**: Especially when you shop in Shenzhen during the summer, you'll appreciate this advice! Otherwise, you might end up feeling like you're sweating in a steam room while shopping.

• And besides the heat issue, there's more!

• The malls are too generic, selling the same brands over and over again, nothing new or inventive to offer.

• There aren't enough dining options either (maybe I’m just not hip enough?) – better restaurants average over 30 RMB per person, unless you opt for fast food, and mid-priced choices are scarce...

  • Another insider tip:
    • Consider your dining budget carefully**: In the mall, if you want a decent meal, your wallet will have to pay up! If you're not keen on spending too much, you might need to walk more or settle for fast food options.

• After all that, by 8 pm we were back on the hot metro to Shenzhen North Station (a major railway station from which people can travel to other cities), and ended up back in Guangzhou. At home, drenched and exhausted...

• To be frank, our big city of Guangzhou is much better! At least the malls have proper AC, so we can cool off during summer.
  #Shenzhen #ShenzhenShoppingMalls

[Jeannie Parisian]

A summer city walk in Shenzhen will be a decision you'll regret.

[Marion Barrows]

I got so tanned from the heat.

[Dr. Cheryl Willms]

People working in Shenzhen don't really hang out in the city itself – it's expensive and the food isn't great. As for the weather, I actually think Guangzhou is hotter. Maybe it's because in Shenzhen, everyone's just walking around in malls, so they get crowded and the AC can't keep up.

[Delia Jast]

Exactly, I was also saying the mall AC isn't strong enough. It's seriously expensive... I can't comment on whether the food is bad or not, because I couldn't even find anything I wanted to eat.

[Garrett VonRueden PhD]

Don't tell me the AC is broken today? It was pretty chilly when I went yesterday.

[Katrina Sporer]

Three malls in a row, and none of them were cool. We must have some terrible luck.

[Antoinette Ferry]

Sounds exactly like MixC World.

[Linda Dietrich]

MixC World, you mean... It was so hot my nose was running.

[Kristopher Schultz PhD]

I'm from Beijing, and I find Shenzhen quite 'enjoyable.' For me, 'enjoyable' means comfortable and pleasant. How can I put it? As a modern city, it has everything. I feel a sense of happiness just biking along the Nanshan coast, enjoying the sea breeze, and strolling through the interconnected parks. I don't understand what you mean when you say there's 'nothing to do' in Shenzhen. Do you really need a specific tourist attraction just to, say, get out of the car for a bathroom break?

[Dana Sanford]

It's not like tourist attractions are the only things to do. If you're looking for a 'pee stop,' Shenzhen has those too – OCT welcomes you!

[Pamela Miller]

I love Shenzhen, but whenever friends visit, I'm stumped on what to recommend.

[Dr. Ruben Larkin MD]

The beaches and parks?

[Carmen Willms]

Besides the cool train cars, are the subway stations really hot? Don't they turn on the AC? It's so stuffy and humid.

[Nathan Dickinson-Steuber]

We must not be in the same Shenzhen... I actually caught a cold from the AC being too strong.

[Benjamin Dooley]

It really is expensive.

[Antoinette Ferry]

LMAO hahaha, that feels so real.