While Shenzhen citizens are blessed with many free-entry public parks not far from their homes, they sometimes have to compete for a spot to take photos because such popular destinations as Lianhua Hill and Shenzhen Bay are always so crowded, especially when the sunshine is bright on a weekend.

The Shenzhen observatory, on top of the hill to the east of Xichong beach, proposed early last year to build Xichong into a dark sky community for the benefit of scientific research and astronomy fans.

Shenzhen, though a modern metropolis, is home to some mountains worth trekking.