Shenzhen – Leo's View
When we arrived in Shenzhen from Hanoi, the flight went pretty smoothly—I slept through the whole thing. As we were coming in to land, I could see a huge modern city from above. It looked almost unreal, but honestly, it didn’t surprise me. The airport was big, modern, and packed with people too.
After landing, we got our SIM cards sorted, which took a while. Then I installed Alipay, which is how you pay for everything in China. You can do almost anything with it—pay for food, call a taxi, you name it. A lot of people say that in China, your whole life fits into one app. Almost nobody uses cash there; everything goes through Alipay or WeChat. It all works with QR codes—every shop has its own code, you scan it, type in the amount, and you’re done.
For me it was pretty annoying at first—well, actually, for the entire stay. The app kept asking for all kinds of verification: a photo of my face, my passport… and the whole thing was in Chinese, so I didn’t even know what I was clicking. That would’ve been fine, but on top of that it kept telling me things like “bad lighting, try again” 😆 Total nightmare. Eventually I figured out the easiest way was to show my own QR code and have the other side scan it with their terminal—that worked every time. But not everyone had a terminal; most places just had a QR code.
Once we had the SIM cards, we took the metro to our place. The metro was fine, but I was surprised that there are actual security checks before you enter—like at an airport. They check your bags and your water, and then you walk through a detector. I’d never seen that in Europe, at least not anywhere I’ve been, but I know a few other countries have the same system.
When we got off, we walked through a huge shopping mall full of clothing stores—pretty massive considering it was just the exit from the metro. Then we stepped outside onto a square, and that’s where things got lively. Streets full of food, street vendors, people, everything. Seriously huge—about the size of an entire old town.
On the way to our place, I was surprised by how quiet it was. Coming from Vietnam, we were used to the constant noise of motorbikes and cars, but here—nothing. Everything is electric. Standing at a big intersection in complete silence is honestly a strange feeling.
The accommodation was decent, a normal-looking apartment, except there were more of us than there should have been 😆 Six people in an apartment meant for two or three.
In the evening I went for a walk through the markets. And that was insane—a massive area full of little streets, food, clothes, and a crazy amount of people. Almost no Europeans, mostly tourists from other parts of Asia.
What really disappointed me—even though I kind of saw it coming—was that there were almost no bars or normal nightlife. None of that Bali or Vietnam vibe. Just some fancy expensive bars downtown, or arcades and karaoke. And I’m not going to karaoke alone 😆 That was a big problem for me.
One thing at those markets I found pretty interesting: they were also selling kittens and puppies. Whenever the police showed up, the cages would disappear, and once they left, everything came right back out. I really didn’t get it—if it’s illegal, why not just hand out fines or something? Instead the police show up, the vendors hide everything, the police leave, and it all comes back out again.
The next day, I was surprised to see electric scooters and bikes riding on the sidewalks. Sometimes there were more of them than pedestrians. You can’t even hear them coming, which seems incredibly dangerous to me—anyone could hit you and you’d never know it was coming. I really didn’t like that. They even had ramps into the underpasses so the scooters wouldn’t have to dismount 😆 Basically a sidewalk for scooters.
Other than that, the whole city felt like something out of the future. Everything clean and modern, tall buildings, each one different, no mess anywhere, no visibly struggling people like you’d see back home in Europe. Just a completely different world.
We also visited a technology museum with all kinds of games and experiments, mostly for kids. The kids loved it—we just stayed way too long for my taste, but oh well.
What blew me away the most, though, was the electronics market HQ Mart (Huaqiangbei). A giant multi-story marketplace packed with electronics—headphones, watches, drones, massage chairs, computers, literally everything. Some of it was knockoffs or cheaper versions of existing brands. Apparently the vendors actually know their stuff—it’s not just about selling. They can explain how things work, because a lot of them also make the products themselves and genuinely care about what they sell.
The one thing that still bugs me: I wanted to buy a smartwatch there and told myself I’d get one somewhere else in China… and nowhere else had them 😆 Locals don’t have this problem—they just order everything through apps like Taobao. But I can’t imagine ordering something in Chinese when I could barely manage to pay for things.
To wrap it up, I’d say Shenzhen is an insanely modern, high-tech city. Truly a city of the future. If you’re into technology, it’s a fascinating place. But I probably wouldn’t go back a second time—I prefer more laid-back vacations. Either way, I’m glad I saw it. At least I’ve got one more experience under my belt.