Expats learn about city culture via bus tour

About 40 expats and locals in Shekou learned about Shenzhen’s culture and history via a sightseeing bus tour to the Shenzhen Museum and historical landmarks Saturday.

Bus tour participants talk to each other during the ride around the city Saturday. Photos by Liu Xudong

The Culture and History sightseeing bus tour, organized by the Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats (MSCE), was the first event of the Discover Shenzhen activity series for 2023. It also included other activities featuring the city’s night views, tech ecosystem and the charm of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Participants of a sightseeing bus tour to Shenzhen Museum and other historical landmarks pose for a photo Saturday.

At the museum’s Shenzhen folk culture exhibition, participants got to see the city’s fusion of Cantonese, Hakka and marine cultures. Natasha Fuller from the U.S. said she really learned a lot about the city through the displays.

“I just moved here and don’t know the city’s history. So everything is new, even down to the traditional homes and how they worship ancestors,” Fuller said.

Local and expat residents look at exhibits of traditional lion dance at Shenzhen Museum yesterday.

The participants also visited the Reform and Opening-up History section in the museum, which records how Shenzhen has created miracles in the world’s industrialization and modernization history within just 30 years.

An expat takes a photo of a set of statues of a traditional local family having a meal at the museum.

Tatiana Lis from Belarus said: “Through the photos, I am transported back in time when the people just worked on the barren land to build such a beautiful city. I think we have something in common. The Russian people and Chinese people are both hardworking people.”

Notes left by expats after Saturday’s bus tour. Yang Yan

In one of the notes participants left after the bus tour, Thamarai Naik from South Africa wrote that she had an informative and amazing experience knowing about the city. She said she learned a lot about the city’s development over 43 years, as well as its trade, industry and international relations over the decades.