Shenzhen began life as a back yard for Hong Kong? factories, but today it has become a back yard for everyone to enjoy. With an official 35.2 square metres of planted ground per resident (43 percent of the total land), it has secured bragging rights as the mainland?s No1 garden city.
This might be hard to imagine driving through the downtown area of Luohu (Lowu in Cantonese), but once you get out on either the Binhe or Shennan thoroughfares leading up the coast to Shekou, it is clear how the city has done it. Mile after mile of well-maintained flower beds and grassy lawns make for a very relaxing journey. Add these man-made oxygen tanks to 200 km of coastline and a hilly backdrop, and you get more than enough green and blue to offset the gray of the city centre.