Modern Miracle

Conrad Shenzhen is part of the changing face of China's fastest-growing city, and its contemporary charm is apparent from the get-go.

- AMELIA CHIA

It is hard to fathom that only 40 years ago, Shenzhen was a sleepy fishing village that was home to about 300,000 people. Fishermen would work all day at Deep Bay, a body of water between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, taking their catch with them when the skies fell to a powdery orange. Then came the turn of the new millennium, and Shenzhen developed into its own—a subway system emerged in 2004, while affordable hotpot meals, ostentatious 24-hour massage parlours and kitschy tourist attractions such as Window of the World brought in tourists in droves. It was evolving at a rate faster than any other Chinese city, yet at that point, still had not the clout and fancy skyscrapers of its neighbour, Hong Kong.

Deep Bay, also known as Shenzhen Bay, is now a vastly different place. Flanked by towering bridges and shiny, state-ofthe-art buildings, the fishermen have long but disappeared as Shenzhen was bestowed the moniker, China’s Silicon Valley, in the last decade. The city is home to multinational technology giant Huawei, technology conglomerate Tencent and manufacturing company BYD, to name three. Standing in a spacious suite at the brand-new Conrad Shenzhen, I peer 20 floors down to find myself looking at a veritable concrete jungle. Located in the futuristic Qianhai business district, the main thoroughfare below is clean and orderly, and lined with generically glossy, modern towers. You wouldn’t be blamed if you thought you were in Tokyo for a hot second.