Yang Mei

yangmei_szdaily@163.com

IN the evening of Dec. 18 Beijing Time, Shenzhen captivated global audiences with its latest tourism promotional video showcased on the NASDAQ Tower Billboard in New York City’s Times Square.

The 15-second video features Shenzhen’s most iconic natural and cultural landmarks and buildings, such as Ping An Finance Center, China Resources Tower, Civic Center, Nantou Ancient Town, Hakka round houses, Dameisha and Xiaomeisha, and Wutong Mountain, showing Shenzhen’s charm as an international and modern innovation hub. It will be played until Dec. 24, and again from Jan. 8 to Jan. 28, 2024.

More than just landmarks, the video painted a portrait of a city in motion. Uplifting music pulsed in rhythm with Shenzhen’s dynamic heart, showcasing its unstoppable momentum as a global innovation hub. A city where tradition and modernity dance, nature and progress embrace, is unfolded.

Additionally, the video showcases to the outside world the well-balanced development of the city, where modernity meets traditions, where towering skyscrapers are interspersed with greenery in parks.

Matt Klein, hailing from New York City and has been living in Shenzhen for 13 years, told Shenzhen Daily that it’s a great way to introduce Shenzhen by displaying such a promotional video to global audiences.

“I think the best way to communicate to Americans is through cultural communication. This is a great way to introduce Shenzhen to Americans that it has a lot to offer, and to give people an opportunity to see what Shenzhen has become in the past few years,” Klein said.

Klein noted that he had visited many scenic spots portrayed in the video such as Nantou Ancient Town and the beaches in Dameisha and Xiaomeisha, where he had a wonderful time.

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“I actually do business with some restaurants in Nantou Ancient Town. It’s a very interesting place that has great culture,” he said. “The beaches are very close to the center of the city. It shows that you can live in a city, but also have a personal lifestyle that you can enjoy outside the city.”

Don Orfeo Rechtman, also from the U.S., who has also been living in Shenzhen for 13 years and in China for 17 years, sees the video being displayed in Times Square as “elated and fantastic.” “It’s only 15 seconds, but they somehow managed to pack so much information into it. Putting Shenzhen in a 15-second video is like putting the world’s history in a five-minute video, you just can’t fit everything in. There are so many aspects that it covers,” Rechtman said in excitement.

Rechtman told Shenzhen Daily that he believes the video is a quick visual hint of what Shenzhen is like to people from all over the world and will attract more people to visit for business and for pleasure. “I’m expecting a lot of people to see the video and say it looks cool and want to visit. When I talk to my friends and family in the West, I’m gonna be making sure they see this video so that they can really get a grasp of a hint of what there is to see here,” he said.

In Rechtman’s point of view, the display of the video in the heart of New York also symbolizes the closeness of the global community. “We are all on one planet. We’re on this side of the planet, and New York is on the other side. What this is doing is bringing everything closer together. So, people in the West with a different culture can understand better people in the East with a different culture,” he explained.

Rechtman used to live in Dawang Village under Wutong Mountain in eastern Shenzhen, which appears in the video, and he compares the area to Greenwich Village in New York City, which is known for its dynamic art and cultural scenes. “Wutong Mountain has an interesting history of being a gathering place for artists and musicians. It’s a very relaxed place. It has some of the cleanest air and water,” he said.

According to Rechtman, “vitality,” “diversity,” and “welcoming” are the three key words to best describe Shenzhen. “The energy here is amazing. There are so many different cultures and different peoples from different places. And they’re all brought together in harmony, and the EyeShenzhen website has nine different languages, which shows Shenzhen’s diversity. Shenzhen is also a welcoming community,” he said.

The promotional video serves as an invitation letter to people from all over the world to visit, live and do businesses, as it boasts quality business environment, abundant tourist resources, diverse cultures, and welcoming people.