Shenzhen was chosen by The New York Times as one of the top 31 destinations this year.

Shenzhen and Shanghai, which also appeared on the list, became the first Chinese cities that have been chosen as must-go places by the paper in three years.

“This industrial powerhouse on the Pearl River Delta is more than just a factory town — and it has the high-class hotels and high rollers to prove it,” the Times said.

Shenzhen is one of China’s wealthiest cities, right up there with Shanghai and Beijing, it said.

“Situated just a one-hour bullet train ride north of Hong Kong, the thriving city exemplifies China’s breakneck transformation to an economic giant,” the paper said.

“Its rapid rise can be traced back to 1979, when Deng Xiaoping selected the “sleepy fishing port” as a special economic zone. Money, bulldozers and cheap labor poured in.”

“So did a new travel destination. A 491-room Grand Hyatt with bay views recently opened, joining the ranks of the Kempinski Hotel Shenzhen and a Shangri-La,” the paper said.

“Affordable luxuries extend to shopping and eating. There are new fashionable restaurants in Shekou, a leafy district with an expatriate flavor. Shenzhen is getting greener, too. The city recently welcomed the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building in southern China: the aptly named Horizontal Skyscraper (the new head office of Vanke Group), billed to be as long as the Empire State Building in New York is tall.”