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A tired comparison, really. I'd say I'd prefer to live in HKG even today, indeed there are still some things better than SZ. Minor things here and there. And world restaurants, of course.
"Shenzhen must develop its own character" is silly though. It already has own character. https://twitter.com/SCMPNews/status/1347769781873745920
"Shenzhen must develop its own character" is silly though. It already has own character. https://twitter.com/SCMPNews/status/1347769781873745920
Shenzhen feels like a giant village of all types of 
ppl coming and going. Legal and illegal. No one gives a damn about you, real cosmo feeling at the same time.
ppl coming and going. Legal and illegal. No one gives a damn about you, real cosmo feeling at the same time.
There's life and energy in SZ but it doesn't feel crowded and tight like it's more cultured big brother Guangzhou up north. GZ is history and culture, like HKG, SZ is the real "newest" China - younger feeling in everything.
You'll meet ppl in SZ from all possible provinces and regardless of the current social standing, they'll be the most ambitious and clever of their local communities st home. Not nearly as sophisticated as Shanghai ppl but a huge plus: Shenzheners don't have silly snob attitude.
That's for the culture of SZ. More practically, SZ doesn't have as comfy country parks as HKG has, but it has SPACE in its urban areas. Spacious everywhere. You only get to compare if you've lived in both, like I have. What a feeling to cross Luohu and *feel the space*.
Also a lot more ppl smiling and laughing than HK. It has to do, of course, with the extra nervous mood in HK especially after '14, and life getting more and more expensive. Life's expensive in SZ too though, these days, but you still see a much happier city, generallly of course.
Shenzhen SEZ is very different and maybe was built initially as an "answer" to HKG, but now is something else. I enjoy walking around in Bao'An and getting a sense of street life no less than I enjoy the same in SSP or SYP. Bit less history but it's gonna catch up.
And shitty rain drainage systems in SZ. They need to really update them to be better, maybe no need to be as good as HKG as SZ isn't an archipelago, but better.
