PREFACE

My Lifelong Love for an Overnight City

Hu Yeqiu

Writing a book that accurately describes Shenzhen is a difficult task. Even though the city is only 40 years old, its richness and complexity exceed that of any other Chinese city; it may even be described unique in the world.

Humans build cities step by step, superimposing elements they create upon the ground where these cities arise. As this long process continues, these urban amalgamations accrue their own flavours and cultures, making them distinct.

This is not the case with Shenzhen.

Accurately speaking, Shenzhen wasn't built, but rather "created"; its rise has been astonishing to observers. It is almost as if the city sprung from the ground overnight.

The song Story of Spring is familiar with listeners in China; it describes the city's unique character. A number of years ago, I wrote a book titled Contact: Designing a City. At that time I shot a documentary film where I interviewed a number of designers involved with Shenzhen, and after I finished, I arrived at a conclusion: this is a city that was designed. You can imagine what it's like, for a huge youthful metropolis to just pop up along what was originally a remote and desolate beach, becoming a first-tier city on the same level as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. This pace has become known as "Shenzhen Speed"; the tempo of the construction of the city has become a singular case which has marvelled at by observers worldwide.

Like a rapidly spinning top, the urbanisation of China has been a whirlwind in recent history, events proceeding at a breakneck pace with the feeling of overtaking a car on a curved lane as we transform from villages to cities. Novelist Yu Hua thus described it in his novel Brothers: "A westerner would have to live four centuries to see this heaven-and-earth difference in eras, but a Chinese would only need forty years."

Great care has been taken in the assembly of this volume to accurately reflect the nature of the city it describes.

When editor-in-chief of the Commercial Press Zhou Hongbo contacted me to organise this publication, I was both delighted and afraid. I worried that I wouldn't be up to the task, up to doing right by this new city and China's oldest publishing house. However, Mr. Zhou is my friend of decades, and trusts me, thus I'm determined to try my hand at the task.

I was familiar with the "One-Minute China" series: previous volumes have told the stories of Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Xi'an, and Hangzhou, showcasing the unique characteristics of these cities and regions, all with long histories. For those books, it was easy to find adjectives or phrases to sum up their subjects: Tibet, so mystical; Xinjiang, vast and beautiful; Inner Mongolia, colourful and magnificent; Xi'an, steeped in history; Hangzhou, gentle and graceful.

But what about Shenzhen?

Many people these days have been to and written about Shenzhen, but nobody's come up with a simple summation of the city's characters. Over the course of many years, people think it's a city full of money, and people without enough sense to spend it. The city has, in the context of people viewing Guangdong Province as a central location for making profit, been flocked to by many. Some view it as a city of nouveau riche, lacking depth-an occupational battlefield without culture, not a nice place to live in. Still some others see it as a free-for-all kind of atmosphere full of explorers and raiders, everyone for themselves, with debauchery, feasting, revelry and gaiety all about, merchants at each other's throats-no place for the weak-hearted, yet a paradise for players of a certain breed.

Only after living here for at least a year can one understand how special this city is compared to others; no matter what you imagine, the city can exceed-whether in dimensions good or bad, however, is not something guaranteed.

Getting to know a city is a process which progresses from outside to inside, just like getting to know a person.

My friend Nan Zhaoxu has worked for a long time researching the ecological culture of Shenzhen. In his book Notes of Landscape in Shenzhen, he provides a clear comparison of first-tier cities' natural environments. He wrote within: "Shenzhen, one of the four first-tier cities along with Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, is the only city to have an urban area, mountains, streams, lakes, forests, fields, ancient villages, ocean, islands, and China's most beautiful coast. Varied environments provide various resting places for life." According to the research results of Nan's crew over the course of many years, whilst Shenzhen only occupies 1/5000th of China's land area, it's home to 1/5th of China's bird species, and has more than 10% of the mammalian and 20% of the reptilian species. Its maritime territory is only one hundredth of a million of South China Sea's total, yet has 20% of the total species. It's a city that's hot and moist, and has more than 50% green coverage, with 2979 plant species documented, which is more than continental Europe.

Aside from the outward appearance, how is the inside of Shenzhen?

In my eyes, Shenzhen is a city full of charm for those looking to pursue their dreams. It's a place that was born as a fishing village and later went to exceed all the neighbouring cities, blooming like a magnificent flower, walking into the modern age on a par with Hong Kong, it's neighbour separated from it by just a small stream. It's a city occupied by the young and not so young, somewhere where dreams come true.

In my eyes, Shenzhen is like a reckless youth. It may have come from relatively rough roots, but it's grown into something diverse, strong, and mighty. For those that have come here to pursue their dreams, this brash child is actually quite handsome; there's nothing he doesn't dare try, nowhere he doesn't dare go. Accomplishments and mistakes are both present in number, but he always pushes forward, like an intrepid backpacker.

In my eyes, Shenzhen is also like a warm-hearted Confucian scholar. Reading is celebrated, enjoyed, and respected here. The city has progressed from a time when books were smart to a time when people need carts to carry all their purchases. Every district has a huge book-selling shop, and every compound has its own library. Books can be borrowed and returned everywhere. The United Nations even designated the city as a "Worldwide All-Citizen Reading Model City".

In my eyes, Shenzhen is a tolerant and humble gentleman, who says that all who come are locals. One here asks not from where heroes come. Elderly making their way across the streets need not fear traffic, and those in need of directions find themselves provided with detailed advice-if the one you ask has time, you will even find yourself accompanied part of the way.

Of course, the more people you ask, the more opinions you'll hear about the city. No matter what you hear, it will exceed what you have imagined.

Thus, when you open this book, I hope you see it as not just a textbook, but rather a vehicle through which you can come to understand the city in small pieces, with each entry describing a scene, a residence, a flavour, a person… Everything within is details and processes, rather than grand narrative; there is no simple conclusion to be drawn.

I believe that the format of this book is precisely suited for describing a city of this character.

If one views Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as long-format novels, then Shenzhen can be seen as an avant-courier production with no posted end date. If the productions of the aforementioned three cities contain complete stories, then Shenzhen's performance is an impromptu one with its own legends. This is China's city with the shortest history, one that's fragmented and diverse; in these stories that are less than 140 Chinese characters in length in their original text, we see the immense intertextuality between them and the city they represent.

No matter from which angle we enter Shenzhen, we can gain an impression of the metropolis, whilst at the same time not having a fixed or comprehensive view. Only by gathering all these small distinct views can we have a full picture of the place we are observing. A number of years ago, there was a national joint performance of popular stage plays by troupes from different cities: Beijing had Teahouse, Shanghai House of 72 Tenants, and Guangzhou Three Family Alley. They all had their characteristic points and were describable and attributable. Shenzhen is quite different, however. This play is called Magic Cube of the City, because only a magic cube can be used as a metaphor to describe such a place.

Shenzhen:Dynamic and Diverse comes out just as the fortieth anniversary of China's opening up and reform is upon us. As we examine all of that which Shenzhen has brought us, this book comes out with the hope of showing this newly born city from a new angle.

It's my earnest hope that you enjoy the stories within.

August 3, 2018

Jiuzi Zhai, Shenzhen