Christmas in Shenzhen 2023 - Things to see, eat and do!

Long weekend for the Christmas holiday with nowhere to go to in Hong Kong.  Not even much Christmas decoration in Hong Kong.  Since I've been visiting China, might as well check out what Christmas is like in Shenzhen.

Went to a random restaurant near 萬象天地 The MixC.  A Hong Kong style restaurant call Datouli 大头力茶餐厅(南山大冲店) (Eat 9).  The food don't taste 100% like dishes served in Hong Kong, but similar.  A quick lunch to start the day.  Can't say it's good, but not bad.  It's somewhat cheap and the place looks decent, which is pretty good already.

Got myself a milk tea coffee.  Super strong.  I had half a cup and my hands and legs were shaking.  My heart was beating like crazy as if It would jump out from my throat.  To make it worse, it wasn't good.

Got a pineapple bun grilled chicken sandwich.  The "pineapple" top isn't soft and flaky like the ones I would get in Hong Kong.  It's too gritty and stuff.  Too sweet too.

The filling is ok, but I don't like the process cheese and too much mayo.

Then an order of pork chop and scrambled egg on rice.  It's just ok. 

Total was about 100 CNY.

Then we crossed the street to get to 萬象天地 The MixC (Shop 1) in search for some Christmas decoration to get some festive vibes.

Chanel was having a pop up event with a pretty tall Christmas tree set up.  

Lots of people, but about 90% less people than in Hong Kong.  So, got my selfies after a couple minutes of waiting.

Heading to a coffee shop calls Lollipop 哪里怕咖啡 (Eat 10).  It looks so out of place in a pretty ghetto looking alley.  The cafe is on the ground floor of a design company, which has their office on the second floor.  The third floor is a little garden, that seems like it's a shared space between the design office and the cafe.  A cute little place ot just sit and chill if nearby.  For girls who are serious about taking selfies.  Since there is no Christmas holiday in China, the place was empty as it's not a touristy area.  There were only people working on the 2nd floor.

It was a Monday, Christmas Day.  Since it's not a holiday in China, there were no one in the shop other than myself.  I had the whole coffee shop to myself.  

After enjoying my coffee, walked 20 minutes to Nantou Ancient City 南头古城 (See 6).  This is a touristy place.  Although it was a Monday and it was not a holiday in China, but it was a long weekend holiday in Hong Kong.  Every where I go within Nantou Ancient City, there were people speaking in Cantonese.  Pretty sure there were a lot of Hong Kongers spending their long weekend in Shenzhen.

It feels like one of those 香港圍村 (walled villages) with modernized shops selling artsy fartsy stuff.  A place for young people.  Since it's a touristy place, everything was marked up, but still pretty cheap.

Beautiful looking tea shop. 

Again, my favorite lemon tea place there.

Super cute gangster cat was roaming around the street.  Despite his angry face, he was super friendly, rubbing his head against strangers.

Had lunch at CHEZ NG吴居餐酒馆·Bistro (Eat 11). 

Saw that they have some vouchers on the Meituan app.  I couldn't actually purchase it on my app as it needs to link with a China mobile number, which I don't have.  However, the waitress was nice and just order the discounted sets for me.  Getting sets with vouchers is almost half the price as ordering a la carte.  

Don't remember what drinks I ordered, but they were a little too sweet for me.

Pasta tastes pretty good.  A little too soft though.

For myself, I just wanted pancakes.  Pancakes are good anytime of the day~

Figs were too raw....

Many of the traditional buildings were turned in to shops.

Some renewed and opened up as a museum.  All free.

Later went to 华侨城欢乐港湾 Oh Bay (Shop 11).  Another big mall.  By the water. 

Went to Oh Bay 华侨城欢乐港湾 mainly to check out the cool looking book store Zhongshuge 钟书阁 (Shop 12). Many people were taking photos within the shop.  So, it won't feel out of place to take a selfie.

ChaoXiang 潮巷·老潮汕美食集市(欢乐港湾店) (Eat 12). Just wanted simple non-spicy noodle for dinner.  Not expensive and not dirt cheap.  Taste-wise is so so.  Can't ask for much when it's only around 100 CNY.

 

Had to get back to Shenzhen the next day for some errands.  Checked out Oct Loft 华侨城创意文化园 (See 4) quickly.  Find that shops and things in general are too spread out.  Don't know where to go and look at.  All artsy stuff.

Then headed to Coco Park (Shop 13). Just went there for a quick stroll.  A huge mall but had no mood to really walk and shop. 

Ending up walking away from Coco Park and had cheap teppanyaki at Tairyo 大渔铁板烧(皇庭广场店) (Eat 13). It's all you can eat. Order food on tablet and chef cooks in front of you.  Price was super cheap compared to Hong Kong.  Obviously, the quality of the food wasn't very good for the price.  They still serve sashimi which I was very hesitant.  Just for the experience.  Mesmerizing to watch someone cook.  It was about 230 CNY per person only.

Points on map:

Eat 9 - Datouli 大头力茶餐厅(南山大冲店)

深圳市南山区大冲新城花园2栋1C

Eat 10 - Lollipop 哪里怕咖啡

深圳市南山区科技园科文路2号一楼

Eat 11 - CHEZ NG吴居餐酒馆·Bistro

深圳市南山区南头街道南头城社区中山东街25号101

Eat 12 - ChaoXiang 潮巷·老潮汕美食集市(欢乐港湾店)

深圳市宝安区欢乐港湾东岸B1层B1-026

Eat 13 - Tairyo 大渔铁板烧(皇庭广场店)

深圳市福田区福华三路118号皇庭广场L1层19B

See 4 - Oct Loft 华侨城创意文化园

深圳市南山区锦绣北街2号

See 6 - Nantou Ancient City 南头古城

深圳市南山区深南大道(中山公园地铁站D口步行330米)

Shop 1 - 萬象天地 The Mixc

深圳市南山区科发路19号

Shop 11 - Oh Bay 华侨城欢乐港湾

深圳市宝安区兴民路与海天路交叉口西南200米

Shop 12 - Zhongshuge 钟书阁

深圳市宝安区华侨城欢乐港湾东岸L1-021

Shop 13 - COCO Park

深圳市福田区福华三路268号