Shenzhen (Chinese: 深圳; pinyin: Shēn zhèn) is a major city in Guangdong Province, China. A young city, it has rapidly developed its culture with the construction of cultural facilities and the introduction of themed cities. It hosts cultural events, such as the International Cultural Industry Expo, and was awarded the UNESCO title of "Design City." The city promotes reading and offers free access to cultural facilities.
Shenzhen's culture is diverse, influenced by the Punti and Hakka ethnic groups and a blend of southern and northern cultural elements. It has shifted from Hong Kong's influence to mainland China's, all while incorporating Western and regional Chinese cultural influences. The city's culture is a dynamic mix of traditions and contemporary elements.
Overview
Although Shenzhen is a young city, only 30 years old, its culture is developing rapidly. From 1981 to 2000, numerous cultural facilities, such as museums, libraries, and art galleries, were constructed. Additionally, several magazines, including "Special Economic Zone Economy," were launched during this period. In 2003, the government proposed the strategy of "building a city with culture" and creating "two cities, one city and one base". These include a city dedicated to pianos, a city focused on libraries, a city centered around design, and an animation base. From November 18 to November 22, 2004, the first China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industry Expo and Trade Fair, also known as the "Cultural Industry Expo," was held in Shenzhen. On November 19, 2008, Shenzhen was awarded the title of "Design City" by UNESCO, making it the sixth city in the world and the first in China to receive this honor. Shenzhen also holds a "Reading Month" festival, organized by the government, dedicated to promoting public reading activities. It was held 11 times consecutively until 2010, with a significant number of participants. The main contents include "Reading Forum," "Recommended Books for Reading and Book Collection," and "Recitation of Chinese and Foreign Classic Poems," etc. In 2007, Shenzhen announced that all public cultural facilities, including libraries, art galleries, and museums, would be permanently open to citizens for free. This was the first time such a policy was implemented in a Chinese city. is a modern youth activity center that serves as a hub for science popularization and art education.
Like most of the indigenous people in the New Territories of Hong Kong, there are two main ethnic groups: Punti(weitou) and Hakka. The Hakka people are mainly concentrated in Longgang, while the Weitou people are concentrated in Futian and Luohu. Due to its central location on the Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway and the influence of the cultures of the province and Hong Kong, as well as the influx of people from other northern provinces after the reform and opening up, Shenzhen has achieved cultural diversity. Shenzhen's culture exhibits diversity at the micro level, as well as a conflict between the southern and northern cultural systems at the macro level. Since the Shenzhen Special Administrative Region was primarily economically dependent on Hong Kong before the turn of the millennium, there has been a decrease in Hong Kong's influence and an increase in influence from the mainland since the mid-to-late 1990s. As a result, culturally, the northern culture has also gradually strengthened. At the same time, due to Shenzhen's internationalization strategy and the influence of the nearby international city, Hong Kong, Shenzhen blends the cultures of northern and southern China. It is also more Westernized compared to the mainland. The development of folk culture has its own vitality and characteristics. The "Dafen Village" spontaneously formed on Buji Street. The original rural village spontaneously organized unique activities during every festival. Food cultures from various places have a strong presence in Shenzhen. From time to time, the tide changes. There are many people in the Northeast, Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Hubei regions of China, and they also have a significant influence on the local culture.
Cultural facilities
Shenzhen's bookstores are large in scale, offering a wide range of products including books, audio-visual materials, musical instruments, and other cultural supplies. They are known as the "Book City." There are "book cities" distributed throughout all districts of the city, with the largest ones being Shenzhen Central Book City in Futian District, Jinshan Building Book City, and Nanshan Book City in Luohu District. Other bookstores in Shenzhen include Bao'an Book City, Longgang Book City, Yantian Book City, and more. Shenzhen Central Bookstore is situated in the Futian CBD District. It is the largest book sales center in Shenzhen. It sells 300,000 different types of books and is renowned as "Asia's largest independent bookstore".
Shenzhen is known as "a city living in libraries". It has 639 public libraries so far and plans to have 1,100 libraries by 2015, increasing from one public library for every 15,000 people now to one for every 10,000 people. . In July 1997, Shenzhen passed the "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Public Library Regulations (Trial)", which was the first regulation on public library legislation in China. As of 2010, the city's public libraries had a total area of approximately 284,400 square meters and a total collection of 20,063,200 books. In 2010, the number of visitors to the library reached 21 million, and the number of borrowing services reached 8.6 million. All public libraries have wireless network coverage.
Libraries in Shenzhen have branches on most streets and offer "Library City" services. A library card can be used at most public libraries in the city. However, the number of seats in the library is insufficient, and some readers do not have the opportunity to use it during holidays. Stand or sit on the floor for long periods of time to read.
The city's major art exhibition institutions include the Shenzhen Art Museum, the He Xiangning Art Museum, and the . Shenzhen Art Museum is located in Donghu Park, Luohu District. The building was originally known as the Shenzhen Exhibition Hall, constructed in 1976. It was later renamed in 1987. The He Xiangning Art Museum was built in 1997. It primarily collects, exhibits, and studies the calligraphy and paintings of He Xiangning. The Guan Shanyue Art Museum is located at the southern foot of Lianhua Mountain. The museum primarily collects, studies, displays, and promotes the artworks of the renowned painter Guang Guan Shanyue. Additionally, it hosts art exhibitions.
Shenzhen Grand Theater was built in 1984 and opened in May 1989. It was the largest film and television screening and art performance center in Shenzhen during its early days, and it was also one of the eight major cultural facilities in the city at that time. The exterior of the theater is entirely made of glass curtain walls and has a square box shape. It has a theater, a concert hall, a cultural exhibition hall, a restaurant, a dance hall, and an underground commercial street, etc. The theater can accommodate 1,304 spectators. Since the theater's opening, numerous art troupes from the United States, Britain, France, Italy, and Japan have performed here. Additionally, domestic art groups have performed even more frequently. Since 1992, the theater has held the "Shenzhen Grand Theater Art Festival" annually, which has had a significant impact.
Literature
Novels After the 1980s, a large number of foreigners entered Shenzhen. People's thinking is more avant-garde than that of mainland China. Some of the literary works are bold and open, such as Liu Xihong's short story "You Can't Change Me", Liu Xueqiang's and Lin Yuchun's prose collection "Red Dust and New Tide: An Updated Record of the Concepts of the Young People of Shenzhen", and "Shenzhen's Mystery of the Sphinx", which was awarded the National Award for Outstanding Reporting Literature of 1991-1992 and the LU Xun Prize of Guangdong Province, causing a sensation in China's literary circles.In 1993, SAR Literature was founded, and the works published reflected the urbanization tendency and characteristics of working literature. Writer 's urban realistic work No One in the Wilderness: The Psychiatric Profile of a Mood Disorder Patient, which utilized the coherent medical history of a depressed patient to expound on the human sense of self-salvation from a literary perspective, received high praise. Working writer Liu Shuquan's "Temporary Workers in Shenzhen" is a piece of documentary literature that portrays the experiences and hardships of hundreds of thousands of working individuals in Shenzhen, with straightforward and vivid language. The book-length reportage "Men of Heaven and Earth", which depicts the changes in , is of a political theme and is highly regarded by officials. Other notable literary works, such as "The Mystery of Venus in Shenzhen," "Fierce Soldiers in the Northwest," and "The City of Youth: Shenzhen," have a high reputation in Shenzhen literary circles. In addition, some lyrical poems, such as "The Story of Spring" and "Into the New Era," possess a pronounced political atmosphere.
Entertainment by city
Shenzhen has a large number of entertainment venues, which are located in all administrative districts. The main film screening venues in Luohu District include Golden Harvest Cinema, New South China Cinema, and Sun Plaza Digital Film City. In Futian District, you can find Golden Shield Cinema and Futian Film Theatre. Nanshan District offers Huaxia Art Center, Nanshan Cinema, and High-tech Theatre of Science and Technology Park. Bao'an District has Xin'an Cinema and Theatre, among others. Comprehensive venues for film, television, and opera include the Shenzhen Theater, Shenzhen Grand Theater, Poly Theater, and others. Shenzhen Concert Hall is the largest music performance venue in the city, primarily hosting symphonic music performances. Designed by Japanese architect Shin Isozaki, the elegant and unique shape of the hall includes a concert hall, a small theater, and other ancillary facilities. The concert hall can accommodate up to 1,800 audience members.
Nightlife Compared to other cities in mainland China, Shenzhen's nightlife is characterized by dance halls, street restaurants, bars, and urban villages known for their vibrant atmosphere and entertainment options. There are numerous nightclubs in all districts of the city, some of which offer sauna and massage services. The St. Paul's nightclub in Futian District is one of the more influential ones in the center of Shenzhen, and is known as a "super-large five-star integrated entertainment venue". The city's bars are concentrated in Shekou, Prince Edward Road, and Sea World. They can also be found around the Shenzhen Stadium and the Sunshine Hotel in Luohu District. These bars cater to different levels of consumption and are often frequented by foreigners. Some urban villages in Shenzhen, such as and , have a thriving nightlife scene. These areas are home to numerous karaoke halls, leisure centers, food stores, and mini-markets. Even in the early hours of the morning, they are still crowded and lively, attracting a large number of Hongkongers as well as mainland Chinese.
Historical sites