RESIDENTS and designers of the Shenzhen Bay Park are crying foul after the Shenzhen Border police erected a 5-meter tall, spiked fence over the past week.

    The barbwire fence was built along the border of the Mangrove Forest Coastal Park in Futian District, part of the Shenzhen Bay Park.

    A post called “A Locked Shenzhen Bay Park” on a WeChat public account got 16,000 hits Friday. Photos posted showed a 500-meter fence being built along the border of the park, separating the park from the coast and blocking the view of the nearby mangrove forest, as well as the north area of Hong Kong on the other side. The post questioned the reasons for building the fence.

    “Previously there was a very low fence preventing people entering the mangrove forest nature reserve. It was very low and didn’t block people’s view to the sea. But this one is different,” said a man surnamed Huang, who bikes through the area on his way to work every day. “It blocks your view and has spikes on top of it. It seems like it might be used to prevent smugglers.”

    In the WeChat posting, a local resident and designer surnamed Gong, who represents the Shenzhen branch of China Urban Planning and Design Research Institute, questioned the fence’s construction.

    Gong said that he and his colleagues made the posting on the public account because he was shocked to see that the fence was being built. Gong and his colleagues were designers for the Shenzhen Bay Park.

    Some local residents feel the project unacceptable.

    The fence runs from the entrance of the park to the first border-police watchtower. The watchtower hasn’t been used for a long time. No public information is available about whether the fence will extend further westward.

    A photographer surnamed Zheng said he often took photos of birds in the park. He said the fence had destroyed the natural environment and was worried a fence that tall might affect the birds. (Han Ximin)