Serica Journeys Day journeys in China
South China · 深圳

Shenzhen

A village in 1979, and what happened next.

Typical day
6–9 hours
Party size
1–6 guests
Guiding
English
Pick-up
Shenzhen hotels; Hong Kong border meet on request

Shenzhen is the least historical city in China and the most instructive. Forty-odd years from fishing villages and paddy to a manufacturing and design capital, and the seams are still visible if you know where the old settlements were absorbed.

It is also the easiest China day for anyone based in Hong Kong, and the one that most changes what visitors think modern China looks like.

Journeys

2 private day journeys in Shenzhen.

Prices are quoted per party once we know your dates and numbers. Every itinerary below can be adjusted — they are how we run the day by default, not a fixed menu.

7 hours Private departureEnglish guide

Made in Shenzhen: Electronics, Design and an Urban Village

Huaqiangbei · Design district · Urban village · Skyline

Itinerary
09:00
Pick-up. Huaqiangbei: components, repair benches, prototype shops.
11:30
Design district — studios, workshops, a coffee that costs what it does in Sydney.
13:00
Lunch.
14:30
Urban village walk: handshake buildings, migrant economy, redevelopment politics.
16:00
Skyline outlook.
17:00
Back at your hotel.
Highlights
  • Huaqiangbei's component markets — floors of them, explained rather than gawped at
  • A design and maker district in a converted industrial block
  • An urban village still standing between the towers, and why it survived
  • The city read as a forty-year experiment rather than a shopping trip
Included
  • Private vehicle and driver
  • English-speaking guide
  • Lunch
  • Bottled water
Not included
  • Anything you buy in Huaqiangbei
  • Observation deck
  • Gratuities

Know before you go. If you are crossing from Hong Kong we will meet you on the Shenzhen side of the border. Your own visa or visa-free eligibility is your responsibility — ask us and we will point you at the current rules.

8 hours Private departureEnglish guide

Dapeng Fortress and the Coast

Ming garrison town · Coastal road · Seafood lunch

Itinerary
08:30
Pick-up. East along the coast, about an hour.
09:45
Dapeng Fortress: gates, general's residence, lanes.
12:00
Seafood lunch at the harbour.
13:30
Coastal road and beach time.
15:30
Return.
16:30
Back at your hotel.
Highlights
  • A walled Ming garrison town, intact, an hour from the towers
  • The Opium War history that started on this stretch of coast
  • Coastal road and a beach that is not on the visitor circuit
  • Seafood lunch chosen at the tank
Included
  • Private vehicle and driver
  • English-speaking guide
  • Fortress entry
  • Seafood lunch
  • Bottled water
Not included
  • Water activities
  • Gratuities

Know before you go. Typhoon season runs roughly July to September. We will move this inland at short notice rather than run it in a warning.

Other cities
Beijing
Shanghai
Xi'an
Chengdu
Hangzhou
Guilin & Yangshuo