Shenzhen Decoded

Plan with a local

Shenzhen trip planning by someone who actually lives here

Tell me your dates and what you’re trying to do. I send back a plan built on six years of living here, not a scrape of TripAdvisor: where to stay, what to skip, which 城中村 is worth your evening, and the phone and payment setup so day one doesn’t fall apart.

Send my request

Ping An Finance Centre rising above Futian at dusk

Two packages, prices on the table

Visitors browsing T-Street Creative Market stalls beside the Shenzhen lettering wall at OCT-LOFT

Trip plan

US$149

one trip, up to 7 days

First trip to China, a family visit, a long weekend over from Hong Kong.

  • A day-by-day plan around your dates and pace, with the metro lines and timings that actually work.
  • Three hotel picks with the reasoning, and the neighbourhood I'd steer you away from.
  • Where to eat near each stop, including the 早茶 place I take my own parents.
  • Your arrival setup in order: visa route, eSIM, Alipay, VPN, which border to cross.
  • One round of changes, then me on WhatsApp for questions while you're here.

Within 3 days, as a PDF that opens offline (the metro has no signal in places).

Looking down through the atrium of a Huaqiangbei electronics market, shop signs and stalls on every floor

Business days

from US$299

per day, quoted after a 20-minute call

Sourcing trips, supplier and factory visits, a tech tour for your team, trade-fair weeks.

  • Your days built around the meetings: which Huaqiangbei floors are worth your time, which suppliers to see first, real travel time between them.
  • An interpreter or sourcing agent I've worked with, lined up for your dates (you pay them directly).
  • A hotel next to where you're actually working, not next to the tourist map.
  • Restaurants that work for a client dinner, and the ones that look right but don't.
  • Me on WhatsApp during the trip when something moves.

Scope and price in writing after the call. Nothing is charged until you say yes.

How it works

  1. Fill in the form.

    Two minutes. The "what do you need" box matters most; dates second.

  2. I reply within 24 hours.

    To the email you gave, with questions if I need them, or a quote if it's a business trip.

  3. Pay when you accept.

    Card or PayPal invoice. Nothing moves before you've said yes.

  4. Plan lands in your inbox.

    We adjust it once, then you go. WhatsApp stays open while you're here.

What this is not

  • I don't book hotels or tickets for you. You get direct links and book in your own name (a few links pay me a commission; I say which). That keeps your money with you and keeps me out of the travel-agency licence business.
  • I don't walk around with you. Paid guiding in mainland China needs a licence I don't hold. When you want a person on the ground, I connect you with someone who does.
  • I don't plan other cities. Shenzhen, the border, and a day in Hong Kong or Guangzhou is the radius I actually know.

Who you’re talking to

Stometa

Six years in Shenzhen and still here. Before that, the US.

I write this site the way I'd text you if you asked me what to do before landing — skip the stuff that sounds good on TripAdvisor, say what actually works here. Some things in Shenzhen are quietly broken. When they are, I say so.

How this site is written and checked

Questions people ask first

Can I just ask one question instead of buying a plan?
Yes. The comments under any guide are free and I answer them. The paid plan is for when you want the whole trip thought through by one person who knows the city.
Do you take payment before you start?
No. You pay when you accept the plan or the quote. If my first reply shows I can't help with what you need, we stop there and no money moves.
Can you book the hotel or the tickets for me?
No. I pick them and explain why, you book in your own name through direct links. Bookings stay with you, and I stay on the advice side of China's travel-agency rules.
I'm coming for APEC week in November. Can you still help?
Yes, and ask early. Hotels around Futian are the first thing to go that week. The APEC guide has the dates and the closures; the plan works around them.

Send your request

What kind of trip?

The more specific this is, the better the plan. Thirty characters minimum.

No payment now. You pay only when you accept the plan or quote.

Shenzhen Decoded gives planning advice. It is not a licensed travel agency and does not sell tours, tickets or accommodation. Not ready for this? Start with the free arrival checklist or the Shenzhen itinerary guide. Run a business that serves visitors? That conversation lives on the partner page.