West, Shenzhen: neighborhood guide

West Shenzhen is the city's working half. It takes in three districts: Bao'an, Guangming and Longhua. For decades this was farmland and fishing villages that turned into factories and high-rises; now many factories are moving out again as convention centres and research institutes move in, so the skyline changes between visits.

Bao'an Center, in the south of Bao'an district, is the exception: expensive malls, foreign restaurants and a well-off crowd. Head north into Fuyong and Shajing and it turns industrial fast. Longhua holds Shenzhen North Station and the high-speed rail that most travellers use. Guangming is quieter and greener, with the lesser-known Guangmingcheng station on some Guangzhou–Hong Kong trains.

There are real parks and even leftover farmland out here, and Yangtai Mountain is reachable on metro line 6. But unless you are here for business, most visitors pass through on the way to or from the airport.

Stay in the west if your trip is built around a flight or a train. A night near Bao'an airport before an early departure saves a long taxi across town, and Shenzhen North in Longhua is the right base if you are arriving or leaving by high-speed rail. Business travellers heading to factories in Bao'an, Guangming or Longhua should stay close to the site rather than commute from the centre.

Skip it for a sightseeing trip. Shenzhen's main draws sit in Center and Nanshan, and the metro ride from Bao'an Center to those areas eats an hour or more of each day. Two or three days in the city are better spent sleeping where you will walk.

If you do stay, choose by metro line, not by district name. Bao'an Center is the only part with a real street life and restaurant choice; elsewhere you are picking a hotel next to a station.

Bao'an Center is where you find the widest choice: mall restaurants, Cantonese chains and foreign kitchens aimed at the expat and business crowd. Around Shenzhen North and the airport the options thin out to hotel restaurants, station food courts and noodle shops, which is fine for one night but dull for three.

In the industrial neighbourhoods, eat where the workers eat: rice and noodle canteens, Hunanese and Sichuanese places, and barbecue stalls that fill after shift change. They are cheap and busy, which is the main thing. Cantonese is the local kitchen here, so look for roast meat, rice rolls and claypot rice rather than anything labelled 'western'.

Vegetarian food is available but not a specialty of the area; ask, and expect dishes cooked with meat stock unless you say otherwise.

Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport (SZX) sits in Bao'an district, with Fuyong Ferry Terminal and the airport railway station nearby. Metro line 11 is the main artery to the airport. Line 6 crosses a large part of the area including Yangtai Mountain, line 12 serves Bao'an, line 6 Branch covers the northeast and line 20 the northwest. Lines 1, 4 and 5 also reach the southern edge.

Shenzhen North Station, one of the city's main high-speed rail hubs, is in Longhua. Guangmingcheng station in Guangming is served by some Guangzhou–Hong Kong trains. Fuhai West and Shajing West have limited services toward the airport, parts of Dongguan and Guangzhou East, with connections onward to Huizhou.

Fuyong Ferry Terminal near the airport takes ferries from Hong Kong International Airport, Macau, Zhongshan and Zhuhai. Intercity bus stations are scattered across the area and can be the quickest option for a specific route. Fares, timetables and last-train times change; check before you travel.