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Shekou () is an area at the southern tip of Nanshan District,
Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
,
Guangdong Province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. It faces
Yuen Long Yuen Long is a town in the western New Territories, Hong Kong. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu (), Tin Shui Wai, Lau Fau Shan and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin (), and to the north Nam Sang Wa ...
,
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
across the Shenzhen Bay. It has been designated as a
Free Trade Zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re- exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject t ...
by the government, alongside Qianhai,
Hengqin Hengqin (, ) is an island that lies mostly in Zhuhai, a prefecture-level city and special economic zone in Guangdong Province of the People's Republic of China. It has a population of about 3,000. Parts of Hengqin are leased to Macau by the S ...
and Nansha New Area.


History

The area was formerly a customs station of Bao'an County. On 31 January 1979, it became officially known as the Shekou Industrial Zone, developed solely by China Merchants Group of
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
under Yuan Geng's leadership, earlier than the formation of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. The event is chronicled in the Chinese ballad "The Story of Spring (春天的故事)". China Merchants Group helped developed Shekou into a modern port city through (1) developing the industrial park, (2) building a port which was highly accessible to the village, and (3) building urban residences. China Merchants Group developed a reputation for this approach to development, which is called the Port-Park-City model or the Shekou model. Since the 1980s, after foreign oil majors such as
Agip Agip S.p.A., acronym for Azienda generale italiana petroli, was an Italian automotive gasoline, Diesel fuel, diesel, Liquefied petroleum gas, LPG, lubricants, fuel oil, and bitumen retailer established in 1926 and Subsidiary company, subsidiary ...
, Agip, Chevron And Texaco Sign Agreement To Study New Tract Offshore China – Pr Newswire Chevron,
Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Independ ...
,
Statoil Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy. In th ...
and
Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...
obtained concessions for oil exploration in the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
, Shekou started serving as a base for a small contingent of foreign
oil platform An oil platform (also called an oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, etc.) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms w ...
workers, since qualified personnel were not available locally. As a result of this first mover advantage in catering for mainly western tastes in housing, food and drink, entertainment and schooling, at a time when no alternatives were available in the area, Shekou gradually became home to the majority of the expatriate population working in and around
Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
and part of its hinterland in the
Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...
. This trend has however abated after 2003, after the country's continued economic reforms. Development of other parts of the city and substantial increase in English levels of university graduates have made life in the city proper more acceptable to many foreigners without school-age children. In 2003, the local government, seeking to capitalize on the foreign flavor of the area, invested in a complete make-over of Sea World, turning it into a western-style entertainment area centered on the grounded Minghua (明华) ship, a 14,000 ton, 168 m long vessel built in 1962 as a French ferry vessel purchased by China in 1973. It is commonly, though incorrectly, referred to by many locals as French President
Charles De Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...
's private yacht. Minghua is now completely landlocked due to extensive local
land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...
and redevelopment efforts. Shekou is undergoing a major redevelopment project, costing an excess of 60 billion RMB. This included the construction of dozens of office and residential towers (such as the China Merchants Tower), a new cruise center replacing the old ferry terminal, a number of shopping malls around Sea World and the refurbishment of numerous older buildings.


Transportation

Line 2 of the city's metro ends in Chiwan, an area just west of Shekou, therefore the line is also known as the Shekou line. Stations geographically located in Shekou include, among others Sea World and Shekou Port. Line 12 is a new line that goes to the east of Nanshan. It connects with the Shekou line at Sea World. Shekou Cruise Center, which replaced the Shekou Port Ferry Terminal, offers regular ferry services to and from
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
,
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
and
Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...
. In regards to ferries from Hong Kong and Macau, the customs and immigration process is completed upon disembarking the ferry. Passengers taking ferries directly to Hong Kong International Airport can also check in for some flights at the terminal. Coming from Hong Kong International Airport, passengers can buy ferry tickets upon landing in Hong Kong, they do not need to go through customs in Hong Kong or collect their luggage. They can pick up their checked in luggage once arriving and going through customs in Shekou. The ferry runs throughout the day from 8.15AM - 9.50PM. There are also buses travelling from the terminal to the
Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport — formerly Shenzhen Huangtian Airport — is an international airport serving the city of Shenzhen in South Central China’s Guangdong province. It is on the east bank of the Pearl River in Bao'an Di ...
. The Shekou container port is part of the large port complex of Shenzhen. Shekou port is one of the main fruit import cities in south China. The port is part of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that runs from the Chinese coast via the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
to the Mediterranean, there to the Upper Adriatic region to the hub of
Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
with its rail connections to Central and
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...
.


Community

The area attracts many tourists and has a sizable community of resident foreigners, and many non-Chinese restaurants exist in the area. According to the Shenzhen Management and Service Center for Expats, 6,275 of the 43,919 registered expats living in Shenzhen are registered with the Shekou Police Station and Shenzhenwan Police Station alone.


Education

Primary and secondary schools for local Mainland Chinese students include: * Shekou School, which houses primary and secondary grades * Shenzhen Yucai Education Group, which includes one high school, two middle schools, four primary schools and 4 nursery schools International primary and secondary schools in Shekou include: * Shenzhen American International Schoolbr>
* Shenzhen Japanese SchoolShenzhen's first Japanese school opens in Shekou


. '' Shenzhen Daily''. 16 June 2008. Retrieved on 14 January 2015
Alternate link at
Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official State media, state news agency of the China, People's Republic ...

Alternate link at
Newsgd.com.
* Korean International School in Shenzhen * QSI International School of Shenzhen * Shekou International School * BASIS International School Shenzhen * Recognize International Academy Supplementary schools: * Previously the Shenzhen Saturday School (深・(シンセン)補習授業校, formerly SHENZHEN日本人 補習校), a Japanese supplementary school, was based in the Ming Wah International Convention Centre (明华国际会议中心) in Shekou.アジアの補習授業校一覧
().
MEXT The , also known as MEXT, is one of the eleven ministries of Japan that compose part of the executive branch of the government of Japan. History The Meiji period, Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871. In January 2001 ...
. 2 January 2003. Retrieved on 12 January 2018. "中華人民共和国広東省SHENZHEN市蛇口工業區亀山路8號「明華国際会議中心」"


Museums

* Sea World Culture and Arts Center (joint with the UK's
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
) opened on 2 December 2017 * Shenzhen Shekou Maritime Museum opened to the public on 29 June 2017


Resource for foreigners

Shekou was chosen as the location for China's first Management and Service Center for Expats. The new facilities provide an information center for locals as well as a place where foreigners can get assistance from very friendly English-speaking staff. The types of assistance they offer include registration services for expats living in the area so foreigners no longer need to go to the police station, advice on marriage or disputes with landlords and employers, guidelines on leases, traveling, currency exchange and more.


See also

* Shenzhen speed * Yuan Geng * Reforms and Opening Up


References


External links


Shekou Daily: English-language news and resources focused on Shekou, Shenzhen, China
{{Shenzhen Geography of Shenzhen Nanshan District, Shenzhen