I am sitting in Shekou , watching the International Food Fair starting at the Seaworld Plaza. The music is blaring. Announcers are screeching. The crowds are yapping at the top of their lungs. I am thinking: just another regular outdoor promotional event in China. But then I start to look more closely at the people walking by, and realise this place is different.
Shekou port, on the western side of Shenzhen, was the first place on the mainland to open up following Deng Xiaoping's 1979 reforms. It is dominated by China's oldest international trading company, China Merchants, which was set up in the waning years of the Qing dynasty in a futile attempt at strengthening the nation.
Its mission then was to learn from the technological prowess of the western powers. It failed, for reasons beyond its control, but the fact that it was able to survive both the communist takeover and the Cultural Revolution, and become what it is today, is remarkable.
Shekou is the power base for China Merchants Group, the area's biggest property developer and a major player on the national stage through what is arguably the mainland's best-managed domestic financial firm - China Merchants Banking Corp.
Like China Merchants, Shekou itself has prospered mightily through its international links. This is despite the fact that it is not exactly on the world map for travellers. Indeed, it is baffling to arrive at the dilapidated ferry terminal, which has no bank ATM, no tourism brochures (never mind a booth), and no one on the staff who speaks English; but a five-minute walk away, at the Seaworld Plaza, there are more international restaurants clustered than anywhere else in Guangdong. It is almost as if the ferry terminal is a facade, a deliberate attempt to keep Shekou a well-preserved secret from all those who have yet to discover it.
Nevertheless, Shekou is the richest part of Shenzhen, which is the richest city on the mainland, and it shows in the appearance of its residents. There are the usual cluster of nouveau riche strutting around here, but regular patrons of the Seaworld Plaza are, on the whole, comfortable in their style. Many of them go home to swank apartments along the western coast of Shenzhen, with sweeping views of the bay and a long shoreline of mangrove forests.
The expatriate community is growing rapidly, too. There are three international schools here, and some expensive housing developments by global brands. And it is always a sure sign of a critical mass of foreigners when you can find an Irish pub in the area: McCawley's, just behind the main entertainment street.