Why Shenzhen meets up at Sea World
Picture this: you walk out of the metro at six in the evening and the first thing you see is a large white cruise ship moored in the middle of the city, a long way from any open sea. Around it, a wide plaza ringed with restaurants, bars and warm lights — people drinking craft beer, kids running around waiting for the water to start. Then around seven, the music swells, the fountains shoot up with laser lights, and it all clicks. That is a normal evening here.
This is Sea World (海上世界) in the Shekou area of Nanshan District, on the western side of Shenzhen. The heart of it is the Minghua ship (海上世界明华轮) — a cruise liner built in France that once sailed real oceans before it was gifted to China and permanently moored here as the centrepiece of the district. Deng Xiaoping himself inscribed the name "海上世界" for the site. Today the ship holds a hotel, restaurants and shops, while the plaza around it has grown into one of the liveliest eating-and-drinking spots in the city.
What sets Sea World apart from Shenzhen's other sights is straightforward: free to enter, free to watch the fountain show, and unusually easy for foreign visitors. Shekou has a large expat and international-company community, so the restaurants run the full range — Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Indian and Western-style pubs. It is the corner of Shenzhen where ordering dinner is simple and you relax the moment you arrive.
