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Right by the border station, this large mall is the best and most convenient place to shop in Shenzhen. Inside its teeming five stories are virtually all the consumer goods you could ever desire, in exhaustive and exhausting quantities. The brands are either Chinese (often of solid build) or fake Western (take your chances). Countless stalls sell all manner of clothes, footwear, jewellery, watches, accessories and electronic goods. A huge textiles market is on the fifth floor. For real bargains try to haggle down to half the original asking price.

If you have the energy to tackle it, a vast expanse of clothes shops awaits you in the sprawling Dong Men district. Remember that clothes such as men’s shirts will be cut for the Asian figure, meaning cuffs coming up to your elbows, so try before buying. At the eastern edge of Dong Men is a footbridge leading to another huge fabric market, located above a food market. There is no English signposting here, though, so be sure to have the destination written down in Chinese.

The ironies come thick and fast aboard this former Soviet aircraft carrier, selling American hot dogs from its flight deck. It’s a hugely popular destination for Chinese tourists, though few Westerners visit. Here you can thrill at footage of missiles exploding in fireballs of increasing magnitude set against a spaghetti western soundtrack; behold stuffed Russian space dog Strelka; and applaud a baffling Russian cabaret act.

Of all the oddities springing from Shenzhen’s fevered theme parks appetite, Window of the World is, to Western eyes, the most surreal: a reduction (literally and metaphorically) of the real world. Mount Fuji becomes a 6-m (20-ft) slagheap, tourists pose in Thai national dress in front of the Taj Mahal and, poignantly, Manhattan retains its World Trade Center. Live shows are put on at set times on most “continents”, including one from a suspiciously Asiatic-looking African tribe. There’s also a Grand Canyon flume ride and a real snow ski-slope.

The architectural wonders of China, including recreations of Beijing’s Imperial Palace, the Terracotta Warriors of Xian and the Great Wall.

Splendid China

Full-size recreations of traditional villages are peopled by well groomed, eternally happy folk representing different ethnic Chinese groups. An anthropologist’s nightmare perhaps, but it will give you some idea of China’s diverse cultural and ethnic melting pot.

This theme park gives Hong Kong’s Ocean Park a run for its money, with the bonus of a tidal pool, adrenalin-inducing rides such as the Space Shot, an assault course and martial arts demonstrations. Use the Happy Line monorail to travel between this and other nearby theme parks

Many Hong Kong executives come across the border to play at this five-star, 90-hole golf club. Alternatively, you can play tennis on one of the resort’s 51 courts.

When you reach breaking point with all the shopping malls and theme parks, rest and refresh yourself with an exceptionally cheap foot or back massage, or perhaps some nail painting. A vast range of treatments are available at Lo Wu (see Lo Wu Commercial City). Hotel health centres offer the assurance of professional reflexology and traditional massage. Submitting to several treatments at the same time is the last word in pampering.

Away from Shenzhen’s urban stresses, almost every kind of leisure facility is on the doorstep at Honey Lake, including a large amusement park, shopping mall, golf courses and indoor and outdoor pools.