shenzhen: where the future happened too fast
so i'm in shenzhen right now and it's like walking into a time warp. one minute you're in a fishing village and the next? boom. skyscrapers everywhere. the city spans 1,997 sq km but feels bigger than it sounds because everything's crammed in-over 8,000 people per km². that's a lot of elbows in the metro.
i just checked and it's 16.73°C with 87% humidity and feels like the same, hope you like that kind of thing. it's subtropical but feels like the air's wearing a wet sweater. not complaining though, beats sweating through my shirt at 30°C.
if you get bored, Hong Kong's right across the river, Dongguan's north of here, and Huizhou's northeast. Macau's southwest too. Guangzhou's only 100km northwest-practically next door if you're into hour-long drives through traffic.
someone told me this place was a sleepy fishing village until 1979 when they slapped a 'Special Economic Zone' label on it. suddenly it's growing like a weed on steroids. the 'shenzhen speed' they call it-buildings popping up overnight, stock markets invented, borders turned into parks by 2018. wild.
the geography's a trip. coastal plains backed by mountains, Pearl River Delta access, harbors stuffed with IT manufacturing gear. six districts: Futian (center), Luohu (border chaos), Nanshan (Hong Kong adjacent), Bao’an, Yantian, Longgang. each feels like a different city glued together.
population's 17.5 million and the average age is 32.5. youngest in the bay area. everyone's running around like they're late for something. employment rate's over 80% but don't let that fool you-it's all hustle.
transport's efficient though. metro's 530km long-world's longest. airport's smooth, port's the fourth-busiest container port. but density's punishing. someone told me the old SEZ fences are now parks, which is nice. places to breathe between the concrete.
landmarks? Ping An Finance Centre-115 stories of 'look at us'. stadiums, boulevards lined with trees. feels planned, not grown. like they designed a city on a napkin and then built it in 40 years. cuisine? nada in the docs. maybe everyone's too busy eating instant noodles to cook.
notable people? zero listed. everyone's too new or too busy being anonymous in the crowd. it's a city of migrants chasing opportunities. no legends yet, just workers.
so yeah, shenzhen's a beast. chaotic, young, sweating 16.73°C humidity. it's where china's reforms went full-tilt. if you blink, you'll miss something changing. i'm tired just looking at it.
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