Anyone been to Shenzhen (China)?

[Nottingham Nick]

We have a two night stopover in Hong Kong next January on our way to the tennis in Melbourne and the cricket in New Zealand.

We have done Hong Kong three times and love it, but for some reason hotels seem very expensive. Further research brings up Shenzhen which is only a short ferry ride from the airport into Mainland China.

Some of the hotels there look fabulous, and the JW Marriott is very reasonably priced - https://www.marriott.co.uk/hotels/trave ... -shenzhen/

It gets great write ups on Tripadvisor but is clearly mainly catering for business traffic.

Has anyone been there, or can comment on things like visas, language difficulties, or other tourist advice?

Thanks

Nick

You can apply for a visa in the UK or even in HK. There was a rumour you can even apply one at border control but I wouldn't risk it. There are 1 entry or multiple entries visas to choose from.

Not taken a boat from the airport before but have taken MTR many times from HK. The city is very busy with alot of shopping opportunities. But beware of pickpockets though.

As for the language barrier, probably the same as any other cities in China.

I visit Shenzhen and Xiamen quite a lot on business, flying in and out of HKG.

Visas are not trivial we find, as the rules seem to change a lot, but having obtained 12-month multi-entry business visas at least we don't have to apply very often. We use ActionVisas in London as they know exactly what is required and handle all the queuing for you. At least China does have a very nice website which generates your printed application form: http://www.visaforchina.org

I usually take the limo-bus (people carrier) service to Guangdong border crossing, then a cab from there to the Pavillion hotel.

In my experience the Shenzhen hotels are a little pricey these days, and food/drink in the hotels is particularly bad. Eating out is a bargain though, but we have a local colleague with us. Without her I'd find the language barrier quite insurmountable, much harder than Hong Kong.

Paul

If you hold a UK passport the visa is simple. You can get a 5 day Shenzhen area visa at the border when you arrive - it will cost you just over RMB300 (about GBP30) and is issued on the spot...although that is a China immigration version of on the spot. This varies from 5 minutes to 45 minutes depending on who knows what.
You do not need any documentation except your passport, a basic form supplied there (name, passport number etc) and of course - cash !

BEWARE: I am referring to the border at Lo Wu (train from Hung Hom HK). Most of the other borders do not have this facility.

Shangri-La is very nice and few minutes walk from the border.

[Nottingham Nick]

Many thanks to all who replied - very useful. y) y)

I think the idea of going to Shenzhen to save money is a non-starter, when you factor in the costs of the ferry and visa etc.

The more I read though, it does seem as though it will be more of an adventure than another trip to Hong Kong, so I think we are going to go for it.

Any further advice / tips always welcome. 8D

Nick