Shenzhen Gas Science Museum

The largest mosque in Shenzhen.

This is Shenzhen's main and most central park, just north of central Futian district. The gardens are extremely beautiful and meticulously cared for. But to really enjoy the park, you need to be there with Shenzhen's middle classes early in the morning or on Sundays when large family groups gather to have fun. At the top of the 100-meter hill, which you can reach with a 20-minute, not too challenging walk, is a large bronze statue of Deng Xiaoping striding out over the city. Large aerobics groups operate to loud music, people fly kites and play badminton, a man walks down the path inscribing Tang Dynasty poetry in ever evaporating water with an enormous brush. Further down the mountain, ballroom dancers do the tango, a group of belly dancers wiggle, and large men lay into each other with bamboo staves and swords. A famous and totally spontaneous group of singers of revolutionary opera sings by the lotus lake every Sunday morning, a must-see if you are even remotely in the vicinity. They are just past the laughter therapy group and the marriage market.

Less popular but quite a bit nicer than nearby Lianhua Mountain Park. It's full of trees, birds, lots of kinds of flowers, quiet rivers and ponds, and people strolling and doing tai chi. The park strikes a balance: attractively manicured without feeling too artificial. The "mountain" (really just a hill) has two peaks, 178m Bi Guan Peak (笔冠峰) and 164 m Bi Jun Peak (笔俊峰).

The Guan Shanyue Gallery is dedicated to the works of Guan Shanyue, a modern master of the Ling Nan school of Chinese ink painting. The Ling Nan (Ling Nan is the Tang Dynasty name for Guangdong and Guangxi provinces) originated in the early 20th century inspired by Japanese westernising schools. Guan Shanyue studied under the masters of the school and produced some very competent art in that style. He had revolutionary associations and, after the communist takeover, became an arts bureaucrat until he was attacked during the Cultural Revolution. He donated his paintings to the Shenzhen City Government in 1993 and the gallery opened in 1997. It contains exhibits of Guan's work and hosts regular special exhibitions.

See Shenzhen Library above. The Concert Hall hosts international standard artists in a stunning glass-wrapped setting.

Shenzhen Library and Concert Hall together make up another of the architectural masterpieces of the city. Architect Arata Isozaki designed the buildings with a back of almost featureless black granite and a front of brilliant folded glass. It is a must see for architecture freaks. The library has four million books.