Shenzhen, situated just across the border from Hong Kong, is a beautiful coastal garden city in South China. It is a city of sunshine and modernity, where economic development keeps pace with social development, and people live in harmony with nature.

Shenzhen is a city with deep cultural roots that sit in tandem with its creative and modern ethos. It is said to have a history of 5,000 years, but was only founded 30 years ago. Since its foundation, Shenzhen has created a migrant culture and an innovative spirit of "encouraging innovation and pursuing excellence." At the forefront of Chinese cities in promoting the use of voluntary services, it boasts about 530,000 volunteers in various fields of activity. Moreover, given the high level of public services offered by the city's government departments, Shenzhen is one of China's "10 Most Welcomed Cities for Rural Migrant Workers."

Shenzhen has more than 160 rivers and streams, which are associated with the hydrographic systems of the Dongjiang River, sea bays and Pearl River mouth. There are 24 reservoirs in the city, impounding a total volume of 525 million cubic meters. Among them, the Shenzhen Reservoir, which lies in the east of the urban district, has a total volume of more than 40 million cubic meters. The reservoirs are the main water source of Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Shenzhen has a mild, subtropical maritime climate with plenty of both rain and sunshine. The annual average temperature is 22.4?; as many as 355 days per year are frost-free. Annual average rainfall is 1,933.3 mm and solar radiation is 2,120.5 hours. Tourism and tourist activities are possible all year around.Shenzhen has a beautiful, natural environment. The green area of the city, with 16.01 square meters of greenery per person, covers 45 percent of the urban area. Forests cover 47.6 percent of the city's total land area. The city has 442 parks totaling 240.40 hectares. Shenzhen has won awards from domestic and overseas authorities, which include "Nations in Bloom," UNEP's "Global Top 500 Laureate Roll of Honor," "National Hygienic City," "National Model City for Environmental Protection," "Model City for Protection of Ozone Layer," "National Greenery Model City," "National Brilliant Tourism City."

Shenzhen is the "City of Parks." At present, the city has more than 400 parks, scenic zones, and forest parks. By 2010, the number of forest parks in the city will reach 17, which will make up 22.03 percent of the city's total land area.