Shenzhen, China's Largest SEZ

A Sunday stroll in China

Shenzhen, a sleepy little backwater not more than thirty years ago, has rapidly transformed into China's 5th largest city. After Chairman Mao's reign over China, the new leader (1975) declared to the world that China "is open for business." He set up 5 SEZ's (Special Economic Zones) and Shenzhen, due to its close proximity to Hong Kong, has experienced an annual growth rate of 45%, which is unmatched anywhere in the world. The northern part of this SEZ is walled off by an electric fence to prevent smuggling and to keep back hordes of people trying to emigrate to Hong Kong. There is a checkpoint when you leave Shenzhen.

It was recommended that I take a casual Sunday stroll in LaoJie while in the SEZ. This I do not recommend because if you take Tokyo's Shibuya and Midtown Manhattan on New Year's Eve, combine the two and double it, well, now you're getting into the realm of obscene population density one will encounter in LaoJie on a Sunday afternoon. The place is not for the faint-hearted and I really don't recall ever seeing more people in one area, ever. It's a far cry from Kahului, Hawaii.

A few beautiful dinners out with friends, some night clubbing, sauna bathing, dirt-cheap computer accessory shopping and a Chinese-style foot rubdown, and it is time to head onto "real China." Guangzhou... see you there.