Memories of old Shenzhen – Part 1: Dongmen

I first went to Shenzhen in 2005 during a cross-border trip from Hong Kong with my mother. We were in Hong Kong for a business trip. During a free day, we went to Luohu to go shopping for the day, and then went back to Hong Kong. 

The second time I went to Shenzhen was with my mother and two younger sisters in 2006. Hong Kong Disneyland just opened the previous year, and my sisters wanted to go there. This time, after our Hong Kong itinerary, we spent a couple of days in Shenzhen because my mother learned more from a colleague in her company’s Guangzhou office where to go in Shenzhen.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in OCT, which is now the Raytour Venice Hotel, and then we went to my mom’s shopping destinations – first in Luohu, and then in Dongmen. While we were in Dongmen, we did get to eat at the first McDonald’s ever in China, which was memorable since my sisters are both massive foodies and love exploring not just various cuisines, but also history related to food.

So, as I was checking one of my archive computer drives, here are some photos from my first trips to Shenzhen. It would not be until December 2010 that I would end up long-term here. There was something about Shenzhen that was about to develop, and at that time, I would not have imagined it would be the city today.

A photo of McDonald's in Dongmen in 2006. Photos courtesy of Vanessa Winters

A Shenzhen Metro map on a Metro train in 2006, featuring only lines 1 and 4.

A view of Sea World in 2006.