The Story of Spring Shenzhen: An instant city (Peking University)*

Introduction 

No city in the world has ever grown as rapidly as Shenzhen, China's southern gateway to the outside world.

                                                                                                                               ----Ezra Vogel, Havard University

Reflecting their pride of the high-speed development of the city, locals would say, "While Rome is not built in one day, Shenzhen is Yiyecheng [or 'built overnight'], or Shenzhen is "an instant city".

That said, the name "Shenzhen"dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It means "deep drain near rice paddies", which is hwere the Shenzhen River lies today. Shenzhen is on the northern bank of the river, Hong Kong is on the other said. 

Rice paddies? No more. Today, which a dazzling array of gleaming high-rises, modern infrastructure, manufacturing capacity, airfreight and container ports, Shenzhen is one of the top 20 mega-cities in the world measured by GDP. The city has an area of 1,997 sq km and a population of well over 13 million. Gentrification and rising rents have made it the most expensive city in China. 

Copyrighted material. Use in class discussion is authorized by Prof. Fu Jun.

• This is part of a narrative project on China stories and is financially supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. During various stages of its composition and rendition, including research, interviews, transcribing, drafting, drawing, translations, and classroom teaching and discussion, I have been assisted by a dedicated taskforce. Members include Zhou Qiang, Yin Jianhong, Xin Ying, Gabriel Lerner, Zoe Jordan, and Zhao Ting. I also want to express my thanks to students, too many to name here, especially from developing countries, for participating in my classes and training sessions, and giving feedbacks.