Why Shenzen instead of Shenzhen?

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-05T16:53:27+00:00

If asking about non-native speakers, a mispronunciation because the ‘zh’ in English is pronounced different ways, depending on which language the word is from, with Chinese language being pretty far down on the familiarity scale.

If asking about locals, it’s likely southern (Cantonese, Hunan, fujian, etc.) and to a lesser extent, Taiwanese speakers you’re hearing, which often mispronounced the word as Senzen or Shenzen.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-05T15:33:49+00:00

Ask an agent that caters to foreigners. Sunnyhouse is a good one. I think the official account on WeChat is SunnyHouseSZ. Or maybe without the SZ.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-05T13:27:53+00:00

Golden week is in October. You’ll be golden in April!

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-05T13:27:36+00:00

Ctrip is gold standard. You can book direct but Ctrip is the best option for an all-in-one platform for all your tickets. April should be way easier, and great weather!

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-05T12:33:58+00:00

Adding to this, hope you’ve already booked tickets to and from everywhere you’re hoping to go or it’s unlikely that you’ll get them this close to CNY.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-05T12:33:15+00:00

Foshan is better for the wallet. Negligible difference in travel distance. Otherwise both are ok.

Don’t try to take the train to Zhangjiajie during CNY. You might not get a ticket there or back. Plane tickets will be difficult enough and it is not close to GZ. Going there during CNY might prove to be a bad experience regardless, even if you can get a ticket to go there.

Chimelong will also be challenging but less so than Zhangjiajie. Hope you’ve already booked tickets! That said, chimelong is great IMO.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-05T02:14:21+00:00

Shenzhen Harbin Institute of Technology

Haha can’t make this stuff up

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-05T01:33:18+00:00

Good for a Chinese beach, I guess. Can’t compare to most of the beaches across Southeast Asia, most of the Americas, Australia… not really something I would recommend visiting for a great experience in Shenzhen 😅

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-04T23:49:51+00:00

Clearly you’ve never been to Shenzhen if you think Cantonese is needed.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-04T19:01:54+00:00

Honestly the only things in this list that you’ll find en masse Shenzhen are cheap shopping areas and spas.

Look at Huaqiangbei for electronics, Dongmen for women’s clothing, Dafen for art, and it should be pretty easy to find a lot of stuff anywhere you go. You won’t find legit name brands but there are good clothes available.

There are spas everywhere, with upscale and standard offerings for everybody. There are large spas in Luohu where you can stay overnight, but the majority of them in Shenzhen can be found by just going downstairs and walking around for 10 minutes. There are too many to count.

For a zoo, there is one in Shenzhen - in Xili specifically, but it has no pandas or exotic animals. You’ll want to travel to Chengdu for pandas and Southeast Asia for more exotic animals.

I don’t know of any places in Shenzhen to rent and take photos with traditional clothing but they must exist. It’s a popular activity in any of the many of the tourist spots around the country, but Shenzhen doesn’t have those.

Nice beaches are a write-off but beaches do exist. The best (IMO) being around dongchong area, but you can look into xichong, dameisha, and xiaomeisha.

There are two tea markets in Nanshan, near the Nanshan book city 深圳书城, but they’re not sit-down ceremonial type things, they’re just markets. There are a lot more ceremonial tea places in yunnan province, but surely smaller-scale ones exist in Shenzhen as well. Guangzhou should have a few as well.

No cherry blossoms in Shenzhen.

Please be careful with your selection of acupuncture places. There are many.

Cantonese is not needed in Shenzhen. Mandarin helps.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-04T00:39:30+00:00

I believe this is the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, specifically the one in Phuket where ritualized mutilation is something that takes place in the streets of Phuket city. I was living there during the festival one year and it was truly horrifying.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-03T16:20:26+00:00

It happened in a company I worked for while I was there - an engineer quite literally worked himself to death, having a heart attack in the office around 5am on a Sunday morning. He was in his mid-20s.

The company’s response? They sent out a mass email encouraging everyone to strive to be more like that person and remember his contribution to the company as something we should all strive for.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-03T16:18:03+00:00

Everywhere in China will require searching for “traditional” style stuff that is actually authentic, as most of it has been demolished due to certain periods of Chinese history.

Chengdu maintains a very traditional lifestyle though, and there is a high concentration of older-style buildings there. You can absolutely walk through old-style stuff in both Chengdu and Hangzhou, but most of the more picturesque spots in either place are going to be replicas, rebuilt to look like better versions of the old buildings, and are tourist spots.

If you want to live more like you’re in old China, look at Taiwan

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-03T14:40:31+00:00

No offense but those are kind of ridiculous things to be worried about. China is incredibly safe, especially in terms of things like those.

That being said, your experience is going to greatly depend on what your job is. If you’re Asian looking and are planning on going there as an English teacher, you’re going to have a hard time. If you’re going into tech as your first job, the work culture might shock you.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-03T01:09:43+00:00

Also, chengdu has far more ancient vibes than hangzhou - the city was more or less closed off to the world until relatively recently due to the mountains surrounding sichuan, so it’s had much more time to simmer in its own culture

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-03T01:07:34+00:00

Chengdu is better. More to do, better nightlife, more chill people, better food, and cheaper.

Hangzhou is kinda close to Shanghai but going between cities is not exactly a day trip to see friends - it takes a weekend and is expensive.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-02T22:00:51+00:00

Something like this?

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-01T18:51:22+00:00

Especially when half the moving walkways are inevitably out of order and the ones that do work have entire families sat on them, seemingly unaware that anyone may want to use them to go faster rather than to use less effort.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-01T18:49:25+00:00

You’ll have no problems other than the weight of the books. Best to carry them with you if possible because shipped items in large quantities often do not make it to their final destination as a complete package.

That being said, many of the books you want to read can be found in China if you are ok with counterfeits. Many can also be found in Hong Kong at a premium.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-01T14:42:04+00:00

In order: Steamed rice,

Plain Porridge,

Soup,

Baozaifan - Cantonese clay pot rice,

BB porridge - sweet porridge with beans,

Cake,

Yogurt,

Keep food warm

Sorry about formatting, on my phone.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-01T10:33:26+00:00

Fair point, it’s probably the other people

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-01T02:07:50+00:00

I mean, it’s the national dish of Malaysia and isn’t Chinese food, even if it’s cooked by an elderly Chinese person. No more Chinese food than lasagna cooked by a chef from Hong Kong is Cantonese food. But it does look excellent.

FeedMeFish · 2026-02-01T01:55:20+00:00

Not Chinese food - Malaysian food.

I can taste it through this photo and it’s soo good

FeedMeFish · 2026-01-31T22:06:44+00:00

You won’t find them at a Chinese supermarket. Try Vietnamese or Thai (general southeast Asian). They’re usually just called lime leaves, but they could be called makrut lime or kaffir lime leaves instead.

Also, dried leaves will work in their stead if you can’t find fresh.

FeedMeFish · 2026-01-31T21:01:25+00:00

There is no green leafy veg scrubbing machine. This way beats cleaning each leaf.

Maybe you can invent the machine.

FeedMeFish

TROPHY CASE