Six districts, six different cities.

The tech end of the city, and the green one. Company headquarters and universities inland, Shenzhen Bay and the coastal park on the water side, Shekou's expat bars and ferry pier further west.

The central business district — the tallest towers, the civic centre, and the checkpoint most people cross from Hong Kong. Lianhuashan park is the climb everyone does for the skyline view back over it.

Where the city started, and where most first-timers arrive — the Luohu crossing puts you a short walk from the old downtown. Dongmen’s market streets are here, and the food is older and cheaper than the towers to the west.

The airport district, and the one that actually makes things — workshops and factories that supply the markets downtown. The coastal strip has been rebuilt with parks and a promenade worth the trip out.

The high-speed rail gateway — trains to Guangzhou in half an hour and most of the country from the same hall. Around the station it is manufacturing and dense new housing, with prices that pull younger residents north.

The outer east — the Universiade complex built for the 2011 games, big tech campuses, and the point where the city thins out into hills and reservoirs. Furthest from the border, and the least touristed of the six.