It was in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420 AD) that Shenzhen was first recorded in history. At that time it was simply a fishing village, then grew into a small town with a population of 20 000 in the early period of the 20th century. But in the last decades, it has experienced an amazing transitional period of modernization, becoming an eye-catching metropolis with a population of 7 million, even larger than Hong Kong. Besides its rapidly growing modern industries, its tourism has been booming all the time with a dozen historic relics, newly built modern attractions and tourist resorts.

Many of the city's parks are becoming more and more popular, such as Splendid China, China Folk Cultural Villages, Window of the World and Happy Valley, each with its own unique features. Splendid China has nearly 100 attractions set in three areas: ancient monuments, natural landforms and folk dwellings. China Folk Cultural Villages feature folk art, ethnic customs and traditional dwellings. There are 24 ethnic villages from China's 56 nationalities. Visitors are able to learn about Chinese ethnic architecture, appreciate folk songs and dance displays, and join artists in their performances. Window of the World, covering an area of 480 000 square meters, features historic sites, natural landscapes, folk customs and international song and dance performances, allowing visitors to get to know the world in two hours. Happy Valley is an amusement park designed mainly for the families with children.

The city features China's only system combining land, sea and airport, and links inland areas with Hong Kong and the international market. Last year more than half the international travelers in China entered or departed through Shenzhen.

Shenzhen's communications and transportation are very convenient with Bao'an Airport, Shekou Port, No.107 National Highway (connecting Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Qingyuan), Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway, double-tracked Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway and Beijing-Kowloon Railway. It takes only 55 minutes to go from Guangzhou to Shenzhen, or vice versa. The high-speed trains set off in 9-minute intervals. Millions of visitors come to visit Shenzhen every year from both abroad and home, especially Hong Kong residents and overseas Chinese.

With China's entry into the WTO, there will be more interactive contacts, and that means a lot more business partners, travelers, visitors and friends coming to China. Hong Kong and Shenzhen together serving as the southern gateway to South China will be greatly benefited.

1. Covering an area of 480 000 sq meters, Window of the World is one of the largest modern parks in China, offering visitors a quick view of the most outstanding attractions in the world, such as the Glass Pyramid of the Louver in Paris, the Angkor Watt in Cambodia, Taj Mahal in India, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Buckingham Palace in London, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, the Acropolis of Athens in Greece, the Niagara Falls in America and the Globose in Mexico. The park is well divided into 9 zones: the World Square, the Areas of Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania, America, Sculpture Park, the Recreational Center and the International Street. Visitors can enjoy the marvelous sights, ethnic customs, natural landforms and international wonders in a few hours. The park also offers a proliferation of minority dance shows, and a China Culture Carnival Parade in the evening. (For details by visiting the website: www.Chinatravel.com, or www.szwwco.com)
2. China Folk Cultural Villages is another fascinating park of ethnic dwellings. One can have a brief look at the lifestyles and exotic customs of China's 55 minority groups. There are a variety of ethnic shows offered everyday. Here visitors can also enjoy ethnic dishes and snacks to have a taste of ethnic way of life. 
3. Splendid China Miniature Scenic Spots is located just nearby, a few hundred meters away from China Folk cultural Villages. Most Chinese well-known national spots or splendid buildings are copied here in 1/3 size, such as Great Wall, Summer Palace, Huanghelou (Yellow Crane) Mansion and Tengwange Mansion. Covering an area of 300 000 sq meters, it is a miniature scenic spot composed of Chinese history, culture, ancient architecture and ethnic costumes and lifestyles as a whole.
4. Happy Valley is a good place to go, where one can spend his/her weekends or vocations in an exotic way. Happy valley provides you a relaxed time of screaming up and down the Adventure Hill, splashing into the water of Maya Beach and enjoying a fantastic performance on Happy Island. There is a Cartoon Town for children. Covering an area of 170 000 sq meters, Happy Valley is located in the Huaqiao Town and consists of 5 areas of entertainments: Happy Plaza, the Adventure Hill, Maya Beach, Happy Island and the Cartoon Town. (For details by visiting the website: www.szocthv@public.szptt.net.cn)
5. Meridian View Center.Window of Shenzhen is located on the top floor of Diwang Mansion, which is 383 meters in height and the highest building in Shenzhen. This scenic spot is composed of 15 areas of entertainments. Meridian View Center and Window of Shenzhen are the best, offering you a magnificent bird's eye view of the whole metropolitan sight of Shenzhen in the north and part of Hong Kong in the south. One can enjoy the "two worlds" of  "one country, two systems". What are the differences and similarities between capitalist Hong Kong and socialist Shenzhen? Think about it and you will be much wiser than you were. That's Deng Xiaoping's political wisdom, which has set up an outstanding example for other statesmen in the world to learn from. Pirates' Legend creates a thrilling audio-visual effect in three dimensions. The latest high-tech robots attract a lot of children tourists. Here visitors can get a general impression of Shenzhen in history, its magic transforming from a small fishing town to an international metropolis. (For details by visiting the website: Meridian@public.topway.com.cn)
6. Minsk World, where the former Soviet Aircraft Carrier is on display at Shatoujiao in Shenzhen City. It makes people awed with gigantic deadly modern weapons, while Russian performances are offered on deck. Do we really need this monster to conquer the world or protect us from enemy's attacks? Who's the real enemy of humanity? Who knows? But we all claim that we produce deadly weapons "only" to protect ourselves. It is said that the existing weapons produced by human beings can destroy the whole planet dozens of times. What's the point?
7. Xinguogong (Wen Tianxiang) Temple. Wen Tianxiang (1236-1283 AD) was an outstanding minister of the Later Southern Song Dynasty, who led a heroic war against the Mongolian invaders of the Yuan Dynasty. He died a heroic death during the resistant campaign against the Yuan expedition.
8. Ancient Chiwan Fort, where the statue of the national hero of the Qing Dynasty, Lin Zexu (1785-1850), is located.
9. Xianhu Botanic Garden is an ideal educational base for urban children.
10. Xiaomeisha Resort with far stretching sand beaches on shore is one of the best summer resorts in Guangdong Province.
11. Shenzhen Stock Exchange Hall is one of the two national stock exchange markets in China.
12. Daya Nuclear Power Station is the largest in its kind in China. Because of its excellent performance in the past, it has been selected a base of patriotic education by Shenzhen Municipality. Ling'ao Nuke Plant is the 3rd of its kind in China and the US$ 6 billion nuke plant near Shenzhen was in service in June of 2002.
13. Dapeng Bay with 40.8-kilometer-long coastline is surrounded with white sand beaches and clear blue water, and an ideal place to enjoy sunshine, cool water and aquatic sports.
14. A group of ancient tombs of the Southern Song Dynasty were excavated at Wubeiling Ridge on the campus of Shenzhen University, which is regarded as a treasure house for the studies of the ancient human activities more than 1 000 years ago in South China.
15. Galleries: Liangmingtang (R 3068, 3078, Shenzhen Cinema on Xinyuan Lu), New World Gallery (at 108, No.2 Guanghua Lu in Bao'an District), and Van Gore Gallery (Hong Chang Plaza, Yanhe Lu, in Songgang)
16. Museums: Guan Shanyue Art Museum (No. 2 Lianhua Village), He Xiangning Art Gallery (Overseas Chinese Town), Shenzhen Art Institute (at the Intersection between Yinhua Lu and Jinsu Lu), Shenzhen Museum (Central Shennan Lu), and Xibaolou Porcelain Museum (South Bao'an Lu).

Shenzhen, as one of the first special economic zones in China, is trying to attract more visitors and develop its tourism industry. In 2002 the city became one of the hottest tourism destinations in China after being promoted as part of the country's "holiday policy", which encourages people to travel in order to stimulate the economy. Different from other popular spots, the city lacks natural sites.

However, its theme parks, as mentioned above, make up for such a shortage, having attracted more than 60 million visitors from all over the world in the past decade. To attract more tourists, the city holds numerous activities in its parks, including the Overseas Chinese Town Tourism Carnival in July. Other activities include the International Beer Festival in August, the China High-Tech Fair, the Indian Cultural Week and South American Cultural Week in October, and Christmas & New Year Celebrations in December.

Shenzhen is a fascinating city with a rapid changing look and a lot of creative entertainments. The city itself is a miraculous attraction to visitors. Early this year, Guangdong offers a 144-hour free visa to the overseas visitors who come to Hong Kong or Macao, which will surely attract more tourists to Shenzhen first.

Editor: Catherine