China is advancing at a really advance speed that the internet can’t even keep up with it. There are so many travel videos on China but there aren’t many website or blogs where I can get the latest information about traveling to China. You can the most up-to-date information and travel tips on popular China apps like Little Red Note (or Xiao Hong Shu) but they are all in mandarin. And I find that the posts there are targeted towards Chinese audience, less so for tourists like us. With this content gap in mind, I have decided to document my travels this time when we flew to Shenzhen, China.
I have post a few short form videos on TikTok and Instagram about our trip and currently, I am working on creating a long-form video of our trip and hopefully, it would be out on YouTube by next week.
A 4-hour Flight to Shenzhen, China
It was a 5-day impromptu trip which we booked around 3 months in advance. We booked our flights to Shenzhen via Trip.com. We were choosing between Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Shenzhen Airlines as both flight tickets cost around the same price. It’s a no-brainer that we should fly with SIA but they only offer late night flights that reached Shenzhen in the wee hours. Shenzhen Airlines, on the other hand, offer more flight timings and we chose the 12pm flight.
Another alternative is to take SIA flight to Hong Kong and then take a train to Shenzhen from Hong Kong. But we figured that it is too much of a hassle for us to cross the border so we went with Shenzhen Airlines.
Our experience on Shenzhen Airlines
It’s no different from budget air except that they had those drop-up screens playing Chinese shows and in-flight food service. Thankfully, it was just a 4-hour short flight.
Let’s start with the positives of flying by Shenzhen Airlines which is under China Airlines. I actually enjoyed their food as it does not taste like microwaveable instant meal. It’s even more tasty than SIA’s food in my opinion. The food portion is a little smaller though but sufficient to last you through this 4-hour flight. The staff seemed polite and friendly throughout.
The other thing to commend about is their efficiency. There weren’t any delays and the plane took off on time and we actually touch down Shenzhen Bao’an International airport 20 minutes early.
As for the downsides, there were quite a few things to highlight. Firstly, we booked our flights directly via Trip.com but we can’t do online check-in via Trip. We had to visit their main site to check-in but I had trouble logging into the system to check-in. We also didn’t know that we could choose our seats on Trip.com for free after the flight is booked.
Secondly, the plane seat I was seated on was somewhat damaged. The cushion sponge at the corners were exposed. It seems like the plane weren’t very well-maintained.
But other than that, it was overall a smooth flight but quite a boring one as there isn’t any in-flight entertainment. Would I sit Shenzhen Airlines again? Maybe only if it is a short flight.
How I plan the itinerary?
I wasn’t feeling too adventurous for this trip as I just wanted to spend time resting and relaxing. So I did not pack the travel schedule and try to squeeze in all the attractions. I wrote down a few attractions and places to visit and categorise them according to the districts and proximity.
We booked a hotel called Intercity Shenzhen Futian Huanggang in Futian district. It is somewhere right in the middle of Shenzhen. From there, we explored the nearby districts like Nanshan, Bao An and Luohu. To help us with our planning, I use this useful travel tool planner site called Wanderlog which helps you mark out all the places you want to go on the map.
Which hotel did we stay in Shenzhen?
We booked a 4-night stay at Intercity Shenzhen Futian Huanggang. It’s an awesome 4-star hotel and we highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a hotel to stay in Futian district.
We paid around SGD 93 per night for a Deluxe Queen Room which has a queen-sized bed. When we check-in, the staff informed us that we can top-up another SGD 23 for a room upgrade but we had issues paying for upgrade so she ended up offering us a free room upgrade to a slightly bigger room on a higher floor with a nice view of the city.
The room was generally new, clean and modern. It had all the basic hotel room amenities and in addition to that, the hotel offers free laundry service and free supper buffet. It also has a 24-hour gym.
Here’s our humble 5-day itinerary for your reference
My partner was into Gundam so we visited quite a few places just so that he could purchase some Gundam model kits back. Because of that, we did not manage to cover all the popular tourist sites in Shenzhen. And also, we visit Shenzhen in early April and we did not expect the temperature to drop from 24 degree celsius to 12 degree celsius the next day. We were not prepared for the cold and wet weather so we had to change our travel plans. Hence, I wouldn’t say its the best 5-day itinerary or travel guide to Shenzhen but just in case you need a reference, here it is.
The itinerary below has been slightly tweaked after we have explored this city. We did not manage to visit all the places though. I have also included the prices for reference too. We visited Shenzhen from late March to early April 2025.
Day 1: Singapore to Shenzhen
- Reached Shenzhen Bao’An International Airport
- Take DiDi from airport to hotel ( RMB 64, with additional RMB 16 for toll fee)
- Intercity Shenzhen Futian Huanggang Hotel to COCO Park Shopping Mall ( RMB 14)
COCO Park is a must-visit shopping mall. I would call it a mega mall with many popular shops and restaurants. We went there in the evening and some of the popular restaurants had really long queues.
Day 2: Nanshan
- Take DiDi from hotel to Yitian Holiday Plaza (Visit Gundam Base Shenzhen) (RMB 22)
- Windows of the world (Theme Park)
- Nantou Ancient City
- Shenzhen Bay Park
- Shenzhenwan the Mixc
We did not manage to cover Windows of the World but it seems like a really popular attraction. We had issue with our e-sim as we ran out of data and we did not manage to get tickets to the themepark. Instead, we bought movie tickets to watch Nezha 2 and it was such a great film! Each movie ticket costs around RMB 55 or SGD 10.
Nantou Ancient City is a must-visit attraction as it is a charming town filled with unique shops, coffee shops and restaurants. I wish that we had spend more time there! It was raining that evening so we did not spend too long there.
Another place we missed out was Shenzhen Bay Park due to the rain. It is also another popular attraction based on my research.
Day 3: Futian and Luohu District
- Huaqiangbei electronics
- The MixC mall
- Dongmen Pedestrian street
It was another cold rainy day again so we tried to say indoors. For lunch, we visited Fan Lou, a popular Dim Sum restaurant near Huaqiangbei electronics. We had to queue for about 3 hours but thankfully you can get a queue number and explore other places before coming back to join the queue. It was packed with Hong Kongers. The food tasted alright for me but my partner enjoyed the food very much. To me, it wasn’t worth the hype and the wait.
There isn’t much things to shop at Huaqiangbei electronics because you can literally get all the tech gadgets off Taobao but it is still swarm with tourists.
There seemed to be alot of construction work around Dongmen Pedestrian Street so it is rather difficult to nagivate around. We also did not stay there for too long.
Day 4: Spa Day
- Shenzhen Central Park (drone delivery)
- Aqila Spa 阿奇拉汤泉
- Night Market near Huanggang Metro Station (opposite our hotel)
One of the main objective of this trip is to try out the drone delivery service at Shenzhen Central Park but we went in the evening the service has ended. Instead of receiving our food via the drone, we got our food deliver straight into our hands by the delivery man in the middle of the park. It took us quite a while to locate the drone delivery station as it is not indicated on the maps. But I would say that it is near the entrance C2 of the park.
You musn’t leave China withou visiting their spa. I chose the current top spa on the Dian Ping app which has a rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars. It is called Aqila Spa which is located very close to the metro station. It’s a 2-storey bath house with bath facilities, arcarde, fruit and drink buffet, gaming rooms, sleeping pods and more. It is like an entertainment centre for people to relax after a hot bath or sauna session. It costs us around SGD30 per pax and we bought the 10-hour basic spa ticket on Dian Ping. The original price is around SGD38 or RMB 209.
With that, that marks the end of our Shenzhen trip. Would we head back again? It’s a definite YES from me. Now that I am back in Singapore, I will continue to update you guys on the latest events happening here.
