HTTSZ Tour Info
Trip Ethos:
This is an easy and safe introduction to Electronics in China for people who have not visited Shenzhen China before. I was introduced to China and Shenzhen on the 2015 Hacker Camp Shenzhen: http://dangerousprototypes.com/blog/category/hacker-camp-shenzhen/ A wonderful 5 day tour with fantastic hosts and good times. I have kept returning to Shenzhen year after year. I was fortunate to be on the last two of Mitch Altam's (2018/2019) eye opening Hackers Trip Through China (HTTC) trips: https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/HTTC2019 (see his photos online). The trip's ethos is based on helping each other and being nice to people. This is my chance to give back to the hobbyist electronics community.
I am limiting the trip to 7-11 people as it makes it easier to move around Shenzhen in 2-3 cars and trains. Barring world politics, the trip will go ahead with any number of participants, from 1 up to 11. I plan on being there and doing these things anyway, so come along for the ride.
Requirements:
Be physically fit. You must be able to walk 8-16K a day in the heat and possibly have to climb many levels of stairs. Not much walking in the direct sun, but it can be kind of warm 32 degrees C, and humid so a fold-able hat can be handy. The Hotel will have refreshing A/C
Suitable for vegetarians, see FAQ below.
Must have installed Wechat before entering China. The trip will be organised and coordinated via Wechat
Must have Google or Microsoft Translate, with offline Chinese pre downloaded before entering China. Or another translation App that will work with no Internet access.
You won’t have access to GMail, or most Western Cloud services
We might get lucky and be able to purchase a one month SIM Hong Kong/Shenzhen card, but it wont work in the rest of China. I have had hit/miss success with using global roaming mobile services. If you can get the internet, it will be very slow!!
VPN’s might or might not work inside China. If they do work, it will be very slow.
Bring (or buy locally) a phone battery charger pack.
Suggest an Alipay tour pass see https://wise.com/us/blog/alipay-tour-pass and especially https://trevallog.com/alipay-for-tourist/ 2023-07-21: It looks like WeChat pay is now operational with an International credit card.
Bring a laptop if you would like to do some KiCAD work and get a PCB made while you're here.
Things we might see on the Tour:
MAJOR EVENTS:
Shenzhen Makerfaire: <Dates> November. My wife and I had a booth there in 2017 and 2019. We had a fantastic time and met people from all around the world. 100+ booths of Makers + presentations from around the world. Tens of thousands of people to talk too. If you would like a Booth and display something, you can apply here: https://www.shenzhenmakerfaire.com/2023/06/28/maker-faire-shenzhen-now-calls-for-makers-of-solutions/ Free entry.
KiCAD Asia Conference: <dates> November. We will attend a multi day KiCAD conference, following with a one day tour on Monday of a PCB and PCBA factory. We will design a SAO PCB and have it manufactured while we are in Shenzhen. More info here: https://kicon.kicad.org/kicon-asia-2023/ NOTE: there is a US$15 entry fee and tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite via the link above.
Maker Faire Hi-Tour: a tour of three factories (PCB, PCBA and a prototyping factory): https://www.shenzhenmakerfaire.com/2023/09/22/mfsz23-factory-safari-experience-the-magic-power-of-shenzhen-manufacturing/ This is a paid tour. Seats are limited, so sign up ASAP.
Shenzhen Hi Tech Fair: <dates> November, Free entry. Would take at least two days to walk around the site and see all the booths and displays. See some of the up and coming companies and technology. Downtown Expo buildings
Shenzhen Greater Bay Industrial Expo: is on at the new Expo centre at Bo'an. Would take a few days to walk around the exhibits. In the past I have seen things like large metal stamping machines, automated metal tapping machines, room sized laser cutters cutting 50mm thick steel, working production line equipment. Free entry.
MakeFashion event at the Makerfaire. Put on by a team meshing tech and fashion from Canada.
The Global Tea Fair is usually held around the 12th December, when in 2023? Would take days to walk all the buildings. In 2019 we drank so much tea that we didn’t get to sleep till 3AM. So many interesting people and companies from around the world. Free entry.
factory tours
Dongmen food hall. A 3 story 100+m long food hall. <being rebuilt>
HQB Electronics markets. We will be staying close to the markets.
Is the North Uni/Biology/Electronics Lab still going? Any weekend workshops?
Back in 2015, the Old Music Building used to be full of traditional musical instruments. 2nd floor is/was Western style instruments. By 2029, the ground floor had been taken over by stationary shops. A good place to get some Business cards made up.
go see the original SZ Makerspace?
visit Sam (North of Dongmen?) - the SZ Shipping guy that Mitch introduced us to.
tour of the Seeed manufacturing building
Visit Depp Electronic City and/or the Yihua Industrial Electronics Market places.
tour of Waveshare, SZ? Not much to see, but you can purchase their products there with no shipping costs.
tour of Makerbot? They used to have a large testing room, where they would construct interesting robots.
tour of Troublemaker. Maybe do an evening Maker session/party there? Henk is full of enthusiasm for all things Making, and helping people with production around Shenzhen.
tour of the new Wechat building. I toured their old building in 2018. They used to run a 20 min. guided tour on the 2nd floor - like a museum showing the data and games they handle. Very Geeky place to visit.
HQB SEG building. For some 20 years, at 66 floors, it was the tallest building in China. The bottom two floors host components, drones, projectors, RF gear, motors, wire, hand tools, PCB manufacturer outlets, nuts and bolts of all kinds (very cheap) etc.
HQB LED Building. A large 7 story building, with the bottom floor being components, batteries and the top two floors being everything to do with LEDs: LEDs of all kinds, ceiling lights, outdoor video panels, LED strips, aluminium heatsinks, plastic lenses etc. There are a number of food places on the 5th floor.
HQB Tool building. Bottom floor has components, 2nd floor has a lot of tools: soldering, hand tools, multimeters, oscilloscopes etc.
HQB/LED building - find the 3D Printer Parts service desks - Note: Now gone.
HQB Phone parts and dodgy phone buildings
LCD parts and repairs building
MUST go and see 1 or 2 prototyping companies. Who did I visit on the 2017/2018 Seeed Maker tour?
Guangzhou, Phone Repair School: Address: 2F, Huatian Building, No. 49, Tiangui Road, Huadu District, Guangzhou (G-LON College). Would be worth a visit just to check it out. US$200 for a 1-2 day BGA soldering class in English. Quote: contents: 1. Disassembly and assembly of the power IC, 2. Disassembly and assembly of the CPU, 3. Disassembly and assembly of the sealing IC. We provide tools and practice PCBs, and venues, 12 people, 200 US dollars per person, if the number is less than 10 people, cancel, if you need to add teaching content, you can suggest that if the teaching content is more advanced, you need to increase the cost
Black Ark - 7th floor. go up and see the HAX Accelerator office. Tour? Any intro talks going on with Pizza? This can be hard to gain entry as the door is locked.
Sea world? Just for the interesting food?
- Is that toy company we visited on Friday 2015 still there and how did the Makerspace turn out? Long way (2hrs each way) to go though.
Participate in a SZDIY Thursday night meeting
SZ Nooploop Technology Co.,Ltd. A2-207, Peihong Building, No. 1, Kehui Road, Science Park Community, Yuehai Street, Nanshan District, Shenzhen SteveM bought stuff from them
See if Tulley is still doing the evening talks at the cafe?
Cost for a X-Factory tour of interesting places - like they do after the Maker Faire? (waiting to hear back on this)
Shenzhen 3D Printing Research and Development Center? Long way away. Can we get close by train, then Bus?
Dorabot, down near the Port
See if StuartC is in town and if we can tour his office and hear his story of manufacturing in SZ.
visit the clothing markets and custom clothing stalls.
Old and new wholesale fabric markets. Lots of bling to go with the fabric.
Have one personal day per week. Go see what you want to see or do.
Visit to a local JLCPCB, and LCSC warehouse?
Visit M5, the company that makes ESP32 range of boards and gear?
Tool Brothers shop, at the phone parts building
Possible to see a local OLED/LCD Display factory? See LCD companies at the Hi-Tech Fair to see if something can be organised.
Visit Dafen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dafen_Village)
NOTE: we won’t have time to do all of these. It’s just a list of possible things to do in Shenzhen.
Trip Costs:
Flight costs
Travel insurance, very important. Medical costs could be expensive.
Ferry ride from Hong Kong airport to Shekou, Shenzhen: US$60-ish one way.
Accommodation: estimated at US$85/night for a 3 star hotel. Comes with breakfast. It might cost US$150-200/night for a soft western style bed at HQB? A sleeping capsule might be from US$20/night?
Local bus/train travel for 2-3 weeks: US$40 + taxi rides
Food: can range from US$10 to US$35/day depending on where we eat and drinks etc
FAQ:
Hotel: I have stayed in this hotel many times: https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Hotel_Review-g297415-d1060154-Reviews-Jinguang_Express_Hotel_Shenzhen_Huaqiang_North_Shop-Shenzhen_Guangdong.html It’s not the classiest, but it’s relatively cheap and very handy to where we want to be. It’s a 250m walk from the Shenzhen Science Station (Exit C) to the Hotel. NOTE: prices and availability need to be confirmed!!
Money: you can bring in Renminbi/Yuan (RMB) ahead of time if you like. It’s a safe method, but sometimes expensive. Before I arrive, I put the expected costs/dollars onto my credit card. This puts it positive, so I have less exchange costs. It also means I am not carrying large amounts of money with me. There is a bank close to where we might stay that can do withdrawals from a Credit card. Not all banks ATM machines can do this. As always, talk to your bank before you leave and see whats best for you. Each country is different. Install the ‘AliPay’ phone App. It might allow you to make payments from your linked credit card. [Note: this needs testing]
Food: I am vegetarian, but while you can sometimes order vegetarian foods, they still might add meat into the dish. I just pick out the meat. Also I can’t claim that sauces will be vegetarian. There are a few Indian food restaurants close by and a BBQ place that does vegetables and mushrooms. Very nice. There is a cheap buffet restaurant very close by that has vegetarian and non-veg food. For non-vegetarian people, the world is your oyster! Lots of interesting foods and snacks around.
Toilets: Some people worry about Asian squat toilets. Most newer buildings will have western sit down toilets, but factories and some places we might visit will not have these, so keep that in mind. It’s handy to carry some small packets of toilet paper. These are cheap to buy in SZ. There is/was a 7-11 opposite the Hotel elevator. I always travel overseas with pills that aid with constipation and diarrhoea, best if you do too. Speaking from experience, the Pharmacist will have a good laugh if you need to buy local pills.
Medical: I have never needed to use a first aid clinic or a hospital, so that would be uncharted territory.
Cloths washing: you either hand wash them in the shower, or pay the hotel to do it for you. It’s not cheap, but not super expensive.
What can you buy: it’s most probably cheaper to buy components from lcsc.com and have them delivered than buying from the markets. But, you can find some super interesting gear at the SZ HQB Markets. Some tools, wiring, and Chinese made equipment, nuts and bolts (bring sample), connectors (bring sample) are cheap, especially if they will fit into your luggage. Western IC’s and tools are taxed at 25% as they enter China, so not as cheap. Having said that, I can sometimes find some Texas Instrument IT's cheaper on lcsc.com than Digikey or Mouser and shipping IC’s are very cheap from LCSC.
Drinking Water: don’t drink the tap water. 7-11 sell cheap water at the Hotel. It’s handy to carry a small bottle of water during the day - just in case. Factories can be a long way from a shop.
Chinese Language: I don’t speak Chinese, but I do have a handy translation App. Most travel signs are in English. Some restaurants might have an English menu, but others won't, so Google Translate to the rescue. Otherwise, just have fun and see what turns up! We might have a few people that can speak some Chinese on the tour.
Visas: Each country is different. For Australians, while the Chinese Consulate lists a one year multi entry tourist visa, it’s my understanding that you need to do a number of trips before they will issue that to you. The website says you must apply 3 months to 1 month before travel. You will need to list and show proof of Hotels and internal travel tickets (if you want to do a side trip to other cities) as you apply for a Visa. Lucky Americans used to be able to get 10 year multi entry visas very easily. I don’t know if this is still the case.
AC Power: 240V AC, See: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/electricity.htm I always travel with a power board and a travel adapter just in case.
Train Tickets: I love traveling China by train. It’s relatively cheap and you get to see the countryside as you go. If you're looking to travel elsewhere by train, then you can purchase them via the CTRIP App. You just show/scan the eTicket and passport as you enter the platform. Note: you sometimes only have 5 minutes or so at a station, so you have to be ready to leave BEFORE it pulls up otherwise it will leave regardless.
Traveling Shenzhen: I like traveling by subway train and even the bus. In the past, I have found Apple Maps to be pretty reliable with travel navigation. We might use Taxis. Most of these are electric, but can be hard to find sometimes, so we will have to be patient. China uses Didi (like Uber), but you need a Chinese bank account for that. There is the Western Didi and a Chinese Didi. We would need the Chinese App for it to work internally. The Western one didn’t work for me in 2019.
It’s easiest if people all get a Shenzhen train card. It makes traveling much faster, as we don't have to line up at a counter or ticket machine for each trip. These also work on the buses too. They cost 80 RMB and give you (from memory) 50 RMB credit.
Getting to Shenzhen: All roads lead to Shenzhen! Most people arrive via Hong Kong.
A. You can travel from the HK airport via local train, but it’s a long journey and you will be standing for a lot of it. You also have to navigate platform changes. I have done this on my first trip, because I stayed in HK for a few nights to check it out. There can be a 45+ min wait in line for the immigration etc.
B. There is now a high speed train from HK to SZ. You spend more time waiting around in queues than the actual 15min train ride, but it might be better/easier than the local train ride + waiting in the immigration queue at Lohou border crossing.
You can hire a taxi to drive you to the border crossing, or there are vans that run directly to the border crossing. Not cheap, but you do have to cross over, then get a taxi to the hotel. You will need the name in Chinese. I have never used this method.
Take a ferry direct from the airport to Shekou, the port of Shenzhen. You need to wait for an hour before the next ferry leaves, but the ferry company will go and pick up your bag and deliver it to you in Shekou port terminal after you exit the ferry. I always use this because it’s the easiest and less hassle, plus the immigration/customs is quick. There is a subway train station close by. You will need some RMB to purchase a train ticket from the counter. More info on how to do this closer to November.
You can fly directly into the Shenzhen airport. I have never done this, but it might work for some people. There is a subway station at the airport and it’s a 1.25-ish hour ride to the Science Museum Station
Weather: who knows these days. It might start off hot 30-33 degrees and if you're there long enough it will cool down over time. By late Dec there might be days of 18 degrees. I bring some easy to hand wash shirts and some T-Shirts, plus long pants and sturdy walking shoes, as there will be a lot of walking. It’s hard to find clothes to fit a 6+ foot person in China, but there is a custom tailor 30 minutes away that will make clothes/suits. Not cheap, but not too expensive? It’s a fun process. Bring a small umbrella, or buy a cheap one there.
SIM cards: in the past I have popped over to the first Hong Kong train station and been able to buy the CMHK sim cards that work around Hong Kong and Shenzhen. It’s about a two+ hour journey, with most of the time stuck in the immigration queue to get back into SZ. There are SIM cards at the HK airport, however, I don’t know if they work in Shenzhen. Bring a paper clip, or SIM card tool. [NOTE: test out China eSIMs]
Trip Disclaimer:
This is a hobby level guided tour. You have to come self-sufficient to look after yourself, we are all adults here. You're not paying me to look after you, in fact you're not paying me anything. We all fund/pay for ourselves.
Like a HTTC trip, you're welcome to come and go as you like. Just let me know (or at least someone), so we are not waiting around for you.
Covid might have changed things a bit, so we have to be flexible with our plans. Some places might be closed, or have moved.
You can do part of the trip if that's all the time you have.