By South China Morning Post | Created at 2026-08-02 03:01:45 | Updated at 2026-08-02 19:05:01
16 hours ago
Museum-goers say Shenzhen’s new cultural venues offer exhibitions and scale hard to find in Hong Kong
Published: 11:00am, 2 Aug 2026
Dinosaur fossils, rare meteorites and French Impressionist masterpieces are among Shenzhen’s newest attractions drawing residents across the border on weekends, as Hong Kong’s northbound spending trend evolves beyond dining into cultural tourism.
Shenzhen recently unveiled a series of ambitious, mega-scale cultural facilities. Among them is the Shenzhen Natural History Museum, boasting 35,200 square metres of exhibition space detailing 4.6 billion years of the Earth’s evolution.
For Hongkonger Raymond Leung, who works in manufacturing technical management, the museum’s recent opening on Tuesday, alongside exhibits such as meteorites, was reason enough to plan a weekend trip with three friends.
“The museum is the main activity for us, we’ll also get some food together after. There should be lots to see,” Leung told the South China Morning Post in Shenzhen on Saturday.
“While you can occasionally see dinosaur fossils in Hong Kong, too, they are not on permanent display like they are here.”
The four, who said they were not frequent visitors to Shenzhen, budgeted roughly 500 yuan (US$74) per person for the day out.
