How to Survive Shenzhen
A few decades ago, Shenzhen was a series of fishing villages dotting the Guangdong hills of mainland China across the bay from then-British colony of Hong Kong.
The Shenzhen today is not your grandmother’s fishing village. The intervening decades have seen the endless building of subways and skyscrapers, mega malls, and multi-level markets. From hundreds of thousands to tens of millions, Shenzhen and other adjacent cities in the Pearl River Delta have had absolutely explosive growth.
Shenzhen built more skyscrapers in 2016 than the United States and Australia, combined.
Shenzhen is a modern city with seemingly never ending amenities and infrastructure. With all of this building, the massive boom in population has been catalyzed by one industry: manufacturing. More specifically: consumer electronics. Most of the electronics we buy in the West, from a new iron at Walmart to the latest iPhone, are manufactured in Shenzhen. Giant mega factories like the notorious Foxxcon dot the outer perimeter of the megacity. Into the core, in the Futian district, electronics markets with every imaginable component cover block after block. The market buildings are four to ten stories of tiny stalls packed with an infinite array of wares from recycled phone screens to fidget spinner lighters, alongside any component you might need to create a functioning electronics product.
If you’re involved in the hardware scene in North America or Europe, it is likely Shenzhen is a city you’ve been hearing about more and more. Folks from the west are crossing the Pacific into China to fulfill their kickstarter orders, make iPhones from parts in the markets, and develop the next wave of electronics and IoT devices.
Visiting China as a foreigner can be overwhelming. I’ve put together a few things to consider before you make the trip, things to check out while you’re there, and some of the most interesting organizations and events that cater to a Western audience. Most of the economy is built on large scale manufacturing, working with volumes that are orders of magnitude out of reach for most startups, but there is a market catering to small scale operations from the West.
If you’re an English speaking foreigner, navigating China is challenging but completely manageable. These tips are intended for first time visitors to China coming from foreign countries, but they are by no means comprehensive.
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Before you get there:
Timeline: Before planning your trip, consider what time of year is going to work best for your schedule, your project, and your capacity to handle tropical temperatures. Also keep in mind that the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, will shut down most cities and most manufacturing for about a month. This usually falls in February, but as it is a lunar holiday be sure to consult a calendar.
Visa: Generally, you will need a visa to enter mainland China. It may be possible to obtain a 72 hour temporary visa if you are traveling from Hong Kong to Shenzhen and not leaving the area. However, you’re probably best served getting a visa in your home country through the consulate. Many countries have created partnerships with the Chinese government to offer 10-year visas which give you unlimited entries for 30–60 days at a time. For any business visa, you will need an invitation letter from a company in China, so making connections online or through your networks before arrival is important.
Travel: There aren’t many international flights into Shenzhen, so you are best to fly into Hong Kong. Guangzhou is also an option, but you will need to take a train that can’t be access from the airport. It will also be easier to purchase a SIM card in Hong Kong, as most places in China require a People’s Republic ID card to purchase a SIM.
Phone: The rate of adoption, and functionality for smartphones is absolutely mind boggling in modern Chinese cities. So, make sure you have a plan to get your phone working in a foreign country. If your provider offers a good roaming plan, that may be your best bet. Otherwise, make sure you have an unlocked phone and try to get a China Unicom SIM card in Hong Kong.
Apps: If there is one app you need, it’s Wechat. I don’t think I have ever handed out a physical business card in China as all connections seem to happen over Wechat. Make sure you download it before arrival, as the Great Firewall may lock you out of the App Store or the Play Store. Otherwise, I used Google Translate (with Mandarin downloaded for offline use), Google Maps (with the maps downloaded for offline use), and because it isn’t blacklisted, Bing.
VPN: To access the parts of the internet you can access in the West, you’ll have to use a VPN. I paid for ExpressVPN and had no problems with it. On a previous trip, I had tried to make do with a free service, and struggled constantly. Things will change all the time, so try to ask people what has been successful for them in the last few months.
While you’re there:
Markets: Huaqiangbei is the market district you’ll want to check out. For blocks and blocks you’ll find all imaginable electronics, components, and bizarre trendy commodities (I bought a lot of LED eyelashes this past summer). To navigate, check out Seeed Studio’s Map for Makers or purchase a copy of Bunnie Huang’s excellent book, The Essential Guide to Electronics in Shenzhen.
Online stuff: Buying parts in the markets is enormously fun but sometimes you can’t find exactly what you need. China’s ecommerce solutions are staggeringly effective, with TaoBao providing access to millions of products and often same day or next day shipping. Check out this guide to sourcing parts on TaoBao.
Meeting people: On Wechat you can find meetups where expats and enthusiasts hang out and chat about hardware, business development, or a whole host of other topics.
Fun things to check out: Beyond the incredible electronics markets, there is a lot to enjoy in Shenzhen. I particularly like Luohu Commercial City, where the top floor is all tailors. For reasonable prices you can get custom tailored clothes produced in about a week. There is also Dongmen food street where you can try countless snacks, some involving dry ice. Or take the subway out to Dafen Oil Painting Village, where replica paintings are created alongside commissioned pieces.
Other resources:
X-factory — A really beautiful well equipped workspace with large machinery if you want more than a soldering iron.
HAX — Hardware accelerator based out of a highrise in the markets.
Mitch Altman’s Hacker tour of China — Annual open source trip to places all across China with a focus on making, hacking and manufacturing with the notorious founder of Noisebridge.
It’s impossible to sum up such a massive and complex city so briefly, and I encourage you to do more research into the exciting things happening in Shenzhen.
Remember — Shenzhen is part of a huge and complex country, and the way that hardware hackers interface with the city is a tiny part of the ecosystem. Learning about China and learning the language will help you connect with locals, contextualize things that may be confusing, and help you navigate the country day to day.
