Strolling along the bar streets of Shekou, one could feel like being in an exotic place with various Western-style restaurants, bars and coffee shops and expatriates passing by.

Facing Yuen Long across the picturesque Shenzhen Bay in Hong Kong, Shekou has become home to most of the city's expatriate population.

Both sea and land transport are convenient for residents living in the Shekou international community. It takes only 45 minutes by ferry from Shekou to Kowloon and 20 minutes to downtown Shenzhen by car by way of Binhai Thoroughfare.

The famous Shekou bar street on Taizi Road, together with others around the Sea World Plaza, has become a "home away from home" for expatriates in the Shekou area.

In the early 1980s, the Shekou Industrial Zone was designed to be an Oriental version of Aberdeen, a British seaport on the North Sea, the logistic base for all the oil fields in the South China Sea. By the late 1980s, headquarters of foreign oil companies were popping up in Shekou and the number of foreigners living in the area exceeded 1,000. The foreign population rose every year. Bars and Western-style restaurants emerged to meet their needs. Foreigners gather to relax and feel close to home, exchanging information, talking to other countrymen or just being alone.

The old bar street has now been extended to the new Sea World Plaza and Taizi Plaza, with more well-known international bars and coffee chains opening.

The Jingshan Villas, Guishan Villas, Sea View Garden, clubs, tennis courts and children's playgrounds, enable Shekou residents to enjoy a leisurely life. Two international schools ensure quality education for foreign children.

Residents in Shekou also enjoy more festivals than their counterparts in other parts of the city.

After the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, they are now preparing for Halloween parties at the center square of the Sea World Plaza and Taizi Plaza on Oct. 31.

Editor: Catherine