TheSZWeb | Shenzhen News and Commentary

When (American) people search for “shenzhen china” in Google, what websites do they actually end up visiting?

Leaked AOL search data - using Google search - reveals all. (The database the following data was mined from consists of ~20M web queries collected from ~650k users over three months.)

http://www.sptimes.com
http://www.travelchinaguide.com
http://www.uborka.nu
http://contaxg.com
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov
http://www.alloexpat.com
http://www.asu.edu
http://www.bp.com
http://www.cetacademicprograms.com
http://www.citynoise.org
http://www.countrykeepers.com
http://www.elpac.com
http://www.eslcafe.com
http://www.flickr.com
http://www.fotosearch.com
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com
http://www.hotel-rates.com
http://www.linguistic-funland.com
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com
http://www.pbase.com
http://www.sandiego-online.com

Ours not to reason why!

Here are other common searches with the ’shenzhen’ keyword:

shenzhen china
shenzhen tourist corporation
shenzhen women stories
shenzhen jahui
shenzhen life
shenzhen visa
shenzhen lovers
shenzhen china women
shenzhen chinese wife
shenzhen
shenzhen 20china 20 hotels
shenzhen 20china 20hotels
shenzhen attactions
shenzhen attractions
shenzhen cn
shenzhen seaway industry co ltd
shenzhen weget
shenzhen.com

NB this is AOL users in the USA. People actually in Shenzhen don’t need to search for their shenzhen lovers online…

• There are over 800,000 registered private vehicles inside Shenzhen
• This number is increasing by over 6,000 cars a month.
• Motorcycles aren’t allowed in Shenzhen.
• The average number of cars per 100 households was 21.5 in 2004.

If you thought the traffic in Shenzhen was bad, just wait for a couple more years. But at least there won’t be any more public minibuses, or so the government has announced about 200 times in the last 5 years with no changes whatsoever…

Breath tests for drink drivers are something of a rarity in Shenzhen. After all, how do you tell the difference between a drunk driver and a normal driver? They both drive like suicidal maniacs.

Being caught for drink driving in Shenzhen carries a 500 RMB fine and suspension of your licence for a month.

The official list of benefits:

• Best pool tables in Shekou - with room to shoot 
• Longest happy hour in town - noon until 9:30
• Lowest prices in town - see the menu page [on their website - click the image above]
• Great food - buffalo wings, burgers, onion rings & more
• Great live rock music - Wednesday thru Saturday 
• Great daily drink specials - see the menu page [but the for best drinks you have to consult the X-ta-sea cognoscenti]
• Several large screen TVs - watch sporting events on ESPN, Star Sports & more

TheSZWeb Analysis:

• Excellent bar with a friendly staff and non-sleazy atmosphere
• Millions of laowai, some sober, some Russian
• [benefit:] No particular focus on sports, despite the title
• no.1 choice for LIVE MUSIC — "Mind The Gap" rules — see below

.

In Shenzhen there are three types of taxi - red, green, and yellow. The red ones are allowed to go everywhere, the yellow ones just within the downtown city limits, and the green ones have to stay outside the SEZ checkpoints. The most numerous are red taxis, with a flag fall of 12.50 RMB

You will also see numerous lost taxis from Dongguan and Guangzhou, and if looking to bargain a cheaper ride, there are plenty of private hire cars (i.e. illegal taxis) which will oblige.

In contrast with the stricter rules in Hong Kong, with all taxis in Shenzhen you can usually bargain a lower price off the meter, for long journeys or trips after midnight.

Shenzhen Taxi Facts and Figures:

• There are 73 taxi companies in Shenzhen.
• 68 of these operate almost all of the taxis in the city - currently (2006) 10,305 of them
• Each taxi usually has two assigned drivers so the car can be kept running 24/7
• The evening changeover for the taxi drivers occurs between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, yes, exactly the time everyone in the city needs a taxi to go home - grrrrr