Waterlands Resort

This indoor ski arena brings skiing to the tropics, offering a surreal alpine escape in balmy southern China. Covering 10 hectares with five slopes, including one with an 83-metre drop, it’s one of the world’s largest indoor ski resorts. A perfect place to swap flip-flops for skis, even in the middle of summer.

An attractive reservoir in northeastern Shenzhen surrounded by parks with trees and well-manicured walkways. Adjacent to the lake is Wangniuting Park (望牛亭公园 Wàngniútíng Gōngyuán), with hiking trails on a small hill. The area is very green and good for a lakeside walk—it's not worth making the trip all the way from the city center just for this, but stop by if you're in the area.

Literally "Phoenix Mountain", this forested mountain in northwestern Shenzhen is covered with a network of well-maintained hiking trails paved with steps. The main point of interest is Fengyan Temple (凤岩古庙, Fèngyán Gǔmiào), a Buddhist temple partway up the mountain, dating back to the Yuan Dynasty. At the trailhead (凤凰山脚) there are various shops selling food and drinks, including bottled water, which you should definitely buy for the hike if you didn't bring any. Then plan to hike 30–40 minutes (all uphill) to get to the temple complex. The complex has lots of interesting spots scattered around, including fortune tellers, lots of shrines, and a big pool full of turtles and a few lazy fish, surrounded by people pestering them by throwing coins. There are lots of shops selling food, incense, jewelry, and other traditional items for the many pilgrims who make their way up to pray and leave offerings. For more serious hikers, the trails continue higher up on the mountain past the temple. A partial map of the trails can be found at the temple complex, though it's only in Chinese. The trail up to the temple is crowded, especially on weekends, but the trails higher up on the mountain aren't so bad.

Both the temple and the rest of the mountain have views of the surrounding area. Don't miss the two-story lookout tower (望海楼, Wang Hai Lou) in the temple complex. The views make for an incredible contrast between the traditional temple in the middle of the woods and the unending high-rises down below. From the right spot you can make out ships floating in the Pearl River.

The temple complex also has a vegetarian buffet restaurant, Fenghuang Mountain Vegetarian Restaurant (凤凰山素菜馆). This is not the little place with the signs saying "Vegetarian Restaurant" in English (though the food there isn't bad either)—the buffet is located at the other end of the complex; look for signs that say "素菜馆 Su Cai Guan". The buffet costs ¥28 for breakfast, ¥58 for lunch—pay before you enter, at the Ticket Counter outside. If you want to skip the hike, the restaurant (and therefore the temple complex) are also accessible by road.

Owned and operated by Ebohr, one of China's leading luxury watch manufacturers. Solo visitors and small groups (with less than 10 people) are required to make an appointment before visiting (this can be done either by phone or on WeChat). Visitation time is limited to 60-90 minutes and visitors are expected to follow the directions of their tour guide at all times.

This has been a popular attraction since the 16th century when it was named as one of the "Eight Great Views of Xin'an County" (the county of which Hong Kong and Shenzhen were part). It's on a man-made reservoir at the back of Yangtai Mountain, and is not easy to get to but it is worth the trouble. Water springs from the ground at over 60 °C, but is cooled to about 40 °C before being fed into pools. There are public and private, indoor and outdoor pools.

It's a stretch to call this a mountain – it's really just a hill – but the view of the nearby neighborhoods from the top is nice, so it's worth a visit if you're in Gongming anyway. The pagoda on top is nice but not old (built in 2009). From the main (south) entrance the walk to the top takes ten minutes if that, but the steps are steep. From the north and east entrances there's a more leisurely set of trails that take you slowly up through the woods. Arrive via line 6 of the metro.