Discover China

One of Shenzhen’s hidden treasures is the large number of historic Hakka enclosed villages (or Hakka houses). James Baquet explores one of them in the Shenzhen Daily article Maosheng Residence, Henggang.

Shenzhen is a fully planned city and its urban areas include a large proportion of planned green space.  In his Shenzhen Daily articles  Evergreen Resort and Sihai Park, Nanshan James Baquet profiles two of Shenzhen’s many parks and reserves.

The closing ceremony for the Shenzhen 26th Summer Universiade was held on 23 August. About 13,000 players and officials from 180 nations around the world attended this majestic event. This year’s competition was not only the largest in the event’s history, it was also different from previous games. Find out more about games highlights and see the videos from the closing ceremony see the CNTV News stories Closing ceremony of 26th Summer Universiade and Shenzhen Universiade makes history.

From 12 to 23 August Shenzhen proudly hosts the Shenzhen Universiade 2011. The Universiade is a major multi-sport event organised for university athletes from around the world by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a combination of the words “University” and “olympiad”.

The colorful Shenzhen Universiade 2011 ‘Happy U’ emblem aims to convey the message that the Universiade is a carnival gathering for university students from around the world. The mascot, “UU”, is a smiling face developed from the Happy U designed to embody the great vitality and uplifting spirit typical of the young people competing in the games. The slogan, “Start Here”, demonstrates the Universiade’s focus on innovation.

The hosting of the Universiade has benefited more than 10 million Shenzhen residents through infrastructure upgrades, for example the opening of new Shenzhen Metro lines, and other urban improvements throughout the city.

To find out more about this great event visit:

• Official Website of the Shenzhen Universiade 2011
• CNTV Shenzhen Universiade 2011 Special Feature
• China Daily Shenzhen Universiade 2011 Special Feature
• Shenzhen Daily “Universiade News” English edition

In the first week of August I returned for my sixth visit to China, this time returning to Shenzhen. My work commitments at home meant that I could unfortunately only stay for a week, which is never going to be enough time to enjoy all that Shenzhen has to offer, and that I could not stay for the spectacular Shenzhen Universiade 2011 which commences today. However, it was a great week catching up with friends and again enjoying the friendly hospitality of the Chinese people, and of course taking in Shenzhen’s outstanding dining and shopping. This time I travelled directly to and from Shenzhen Airport on Hainan Airlines new direct service from Sydney to Shenzhen and Hangzhou, and it was excellent value for money with great service.