Front-running city

Shenzhen is best known as the miracle city as it sprang up so rapidly over a handful of years from 1979 and early 1980s, to link the trade, tourism and cultural exchanges between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

But the city has since taken an active role to define itself as a frontrunner of both economic and political reforms in China after the successful return of Hong Kong in 1997.

Less than 150 km away from Guangzhou, Shenzhen is drastically different from its neighbor in terms of culture. As a melting pot of diverse cultural elements introduced by immigrants from all parts of China, Shenzhen is a city with a kaleidoscopic cultural blend.