By Elena
1- Their love for technology
It might have been because we started our trip at Shenzhen and learned so much about their passion for innovation, technology, and sustainability or because we visited so many state-of-the-art technological companies, but we ended up being absolutely convinced that China is a crazy modern place! They’re the largest e-commerce users in the world and the IT business is so large that they have an IT Minister. Last but not least, WeChat payment is so broadly used that a beggar can ask for money by showing a QR code. It’s really crazy.
2- The amazing blend of a millenary culture
Being in China, a place with over 3000 years of history, you can definitely feel a mystic atmosphere. Architecture, gastronomy and the way people respect tradition makes of China an very interesting place to go to. We heard stories about ancestors, ghosts, demons, and many other figures! Funny story: it seems like Chinese believe in ghosts and that when they move around, they only do so in a straight line, so they used to put a wall in front of their front doors so that ghosts would crush against them and wouldn’t enter their houses!
3-The warm welcome everyone gave us
Ever since we were about to land in Shenzhen people were being kind and helpful to us. Starting with a letter we received from a kid at the Beijing- Shenzhen flight which said “Shenzhen is our home, Welcome to Shenzhen, it’s nice to meet you!”, followed by a kind Chinese woman who taught me how to eat my dinner on the plane and basically everyone else! Companies received us with Spanish speakers, gave us amazing technological demonstrations, hosted dinners for us and even gave us cool presents. We loved how they tried to show us their culture and explained their traditions to us while remaining super respectful and charming.
4- Shenzhen’s Modern Design
Shenzhen was named UNESCO city of design, which comes to no wonder as it is a 30-year-old city which was created from scratch! It is evident that its urban plan was strategically designed to overcome other cities’ conflicts: you can see modern skyscrapers, great public transport -with many, many bikes-, super fun lights, amazing green areas, bold buildings everywhere and all of that following an astounding functionality just makes of Shenzhen a place where nobody could feel homesick!
5- Shopping!
China is known as the world’s biggest manufacturer and that becomes evident when being there. Everything can be found there, from high-end international brands to white-label products, enormous electronic shopping malls where you can buy from cables to drones, different markets with traditional souvenirs or pearls. Most markets such as the Pearl Market of the Silk Market are places where you must go haggling over prices, which can be both exhausting but super fun! We bought plenty of stuff which we loved at amazing prices!
