Silicon Valley to Shenzhen, China Trip tips

Silicon Valley to Shenzhen, China  

SHENZHEN : Producers of the World Electronics

I recently had a trip to ShenZhen, China from Silicon Valley. Here is some info you would wonder about ShenZhen - 'How to' and 'What is' , etc. I covered some of the basics of  travel, visa and little about culture and business.  I have not covered how to find trade agents or make deals with manufacturers and suppliers. I have not gone to that level yet. When I do, I will post it in this blog again.

San Francisco Embassy: Visa Process: 

Address:1450 Laguna Street, San Francisco, CA 94115

Entrance:  Visa office entrance is in Geary Blvd.

Parking: Look for street parking south of Geary Blvd on Laguna st. 2 hrs Street parking . So, go move your car or clear the mark on your tire if any between your wait at Visa Office.

Water: NO WATER FOUNTAINS

Printer/Scanner: Paid Printer/Scanner available.

Visa Application Form: Available on Request.
Multiple Entries: ONLY 2 entry visa for non USA Citizens. (Read below for more details)
                          10 years Multiple entry Visa for USA Citizens.

Apply Via: In Person or Agent (No mail services allowed)
You have to go in person or send via an Agent / Friends to the Visa Office at Geary and Laguna st.

Number of Trips to Visa office: Date of Application submission, Date to pick up the Passport. - 2 trips must. Anyone with receipt can pickup your Passport.

Applying Visit:

1. Pick up a token at the entrance.

2. Wait for the number called / shown on display. Also listen to security, some times he will be  yelling different numbers from display.

3. At the window: Hand over your , Passport, Filled out Application , Photo.

4. At the Window: The staff will give you a receipt with a pick up date (usually 3 days).

5. No fee to be paid upfront.

Picking up Visa:

1. Stand on the Pick up line

2. Fist window : staff will collect your receipt and give you a 'Pick up window token'

3. Same staff will come to the pick up window and take your token and ask for payment.

4. Fee: $45 for non American Citizen  - pay your fee with credit card .

5. Collect your Visa and check the information on the Visa.

FLIGHT Tickets:

ShenZhen and HongKong are almost like twin cities.  So, best way is to enter HongKong first to go to ShenZhen

To fly to ShenZhen, book direct flight from SFO by Cathey Pacific Airlines that  has direct flight to Hong Kong.

Many other flights are 2 stops and average 8 to 14 hours to wait on the transit.

AT HONGKONG AIRPORT:

1. Pick up your luggage

2. Fill out an 'ENTRY FORM' for HongKong Immigration.

2. Goto the immigration 'Visitor Channel' ( there are HongKong residents channel, etc.)

3. HongKong officer will not stamp anything on your passport . He only will verify your documents of Your resident country and destination Country. Because you can stay in Hongkong for 30 days , you don't need a visa to enter HongKong.

4. Now come out of the Airport - You can find cab to take you to  ShenZhen City.

Understanding Immigration Process between China and HongKong:

Though HongKong is part of China , it is stll treated as different Country by all means from Currency, Border entries, etc.

Going to China (ShenZhen City) from HongKong Airport:

1. Fill out an Entry form for China:
2. Exit HongKong - HongKong Immigraion booth

- Give the Staff your passport with the 'Entry Form' you filled out at Airport Immigration.

 - staff will give an exit slip.

3. In few feet ahead is China Immigration Booth - The staff will STAMP ON YOUR PASSPORT - WHICH YOUR FIRST ENTRY ( If you have 2 entry visa, one entry is over and you only have one more entry left on your visa)

4.. Proceed to ShenZhen

Going from China (ShenZhen City ) to HongKong Airport:

1. Fill out an EXIT form for China Immigration and give the staff with your passport.

2. Exit China  - China Immigration Booth
- staff will 'STAMP ON YOUR PASSPORT as EXIT'

3. Enter HongKong: HongKong Immigration Booth
- Fill out an Entry Form for HongKong and give the staff with your passport
- Staff will verify the documents and let you go.-

CAB Options to travel from HongKong Airport to ShenZhen City:

HongKong Airport to ShenZhen City: RMB 700 ($120)

HongKong Airport to HongKong-China Border : RMB 250

HongKong Border to ShenZhen City:  RMB 15-30
HongKong Airport to HongKong-China Ferry:
HongKong-China Ferry to ShenZhen City:

Return:

ShenZhen City to HongKong-China Border: RMB 15
HongKong-China  Border to HongKongAirport: RMB 120 - 150 per person ( You can pick up this cab service on the China Side)

Other Transportation options:

Bus
Train

HongKong Airport to ShenZhen Airport:

Language:

Chinese Only. Few people speak little English.

ShenZhen City:

Clean ! Better than San Francisco ( especially no chewing gum spit on streets). But I have not seen any slum or low income areas.

small and narrow streets

A loooooooong line of tall buildings. Residential apartments are in tall buildings too.

Mostly  cars and buses. Not lots of two wheelers. Few two wheel motor cycles that are powered by batteries.

You can not see lots of people outside in a City of 10 million population.

They all travel in Subways. But still city seemed quiet.

Cigarette smoke smell - Cities norm. Cars, offices, Hotels, Lobby, Streets, Restaurants - it just stinks with Cigarette smoke smell.
If you are a non smoker , it is a fight with air. Hotels don't care of smoking. You can see the smoke buds in trash bins outside elevators and your total floor will stink with smoke smell , thus your room air condition.

 I HAVE NOT SEEN A SINGLE BEGGAR. People do work right or wrong , selling fake invoices for the Tax purpose or selling Expo passes, etc.

Again I have not visited a regular , standard average Chinese living regions of the City. 

Heart of the City: QuangChang Bay:  Electronics Shopping Malls
In a nutshell - Just EBay.com , Chaos, Bulk, Leg Pain

 This is a street of shopping malls filled with electronics shops. People say or think you can find any electronics item you want inside these malls.

If you are non Chinese speaker , it is a total chaos. Completely unorganized. The shopkeeper even don't know what he has in his store ! If you are looking for a sensor for aurduino and ask for it, he wouldn't know and say he doesn't have it, if you look at his display case , you will find the exact thing you are asking.

Warned: Thieves, Fake products (Look like iphone - guys will approach you on the street and negotiate asking from RMB 1200? how about 1000, 800, okay , pl. tell me how much can you give!. )

Most of the shops have a small display desk and a chair on every floor. Shops are crowded  leaving  little space to walk.

Most shops are busy packaging things to ship all over the World. In another words, you will be able to find all the items in the Malls of QungChangBay on Ebay.com. I found here only and  all the electronics components that I ordered on Ebay.com.  The only difference will be a little difference in the cost , trust me literally very little different from what you find online vs on store at QangChangBay , especially when you buy in small quantities. So, I was not able to find bargain rates as I was only looking for 1 or 2 pieces in each items.

Food:.

Forget about US Chinese food like panda express and even the local restaurant menu. In China, you will not find those Like Kungfu chicken, yellow chicken, red chicken.... No.

In a fine dining restaurant, they will serve starting with Tea, Soup, Beef , Pork , Veggie leaves, Dug, Full Fish (freshly cooked from tank), Shrimps - at last rice to fill the gap in your stomach.

Factories:

 
Factory buildings look like appartment complexes. In the above picture each floor has  one or two factories.  It was amazing to see the whole office was empty druing the lunch hours. I heard that the labors would take lunch at dorms and then take rest before get back to their shift.

This below company has 3 different companies inside. Connected Home devices, Wechat App development and an Accounting firm - 3 in 1