For Hong Kong residents looking for somewhere new to enjoy food and fun without the need to travel far, Shenzhen has emerged as a convenient playground.
The city was once considered a backwater, but then a tech and industrial boom changed everything.
Many of China’s young, upwardly mobile professionals flooded into the city, leading to a population boom and a relatively low average age among its now 17 million inhabitants – just 32.5 years, according to data from 2020.
This has resulted in a flourishing food and beverage scene featuring many of China’s most innovative bars, cafes and restaurants, offering everything from regional Chinese cuisine to street food to international and fine-dining fare. There are also lots of hotpot restaurants.
What is more, food and drinks in Shenzhen tend to be significantly cheaper than in Hong Kong. And word has got out, leading to an influx of day and weekend trippers from the Fragrant Harbour keen to sample the delights of the “city of young migrants”.