i honestly think there should be a version of this for makers, is there a buspirate guide to shenzen?
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I have done various shenzhen guides and maps, but I think the website has bitrot over the years.
That guide will get you a long ways though, at least in terms of what buildings are where.
Honestly, a more useful guide is probably how to use Taobao, 1688 and SZLCSC. The market just isn’t that helpful beyond looking and touching things these days. If you want to make PCBs, order parts & assembly, that stuff is all online. This is why I don’t live in Shenzhen anymore - there’s very few practicle advantages to actually being there vs learning how to use the apps and some basic Mandarin.
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That is the guide 
At least the generic one. The previous edition can be downloaded for free.
In terms of being in Shenzhen I think 5-10 years ago it was possible to visit once in a while and get much of benefit, but realistically you had to either be there more permanently or be ready to get on a plane regularly to really do it. Today it has developed so it is probably possible to do most of it remotely, but realistically I think most would still get a lot benefit from visiting once in a while.
I only figured out recently that JLC now have custom cardboard boxes, low volume plastic prototyping, extruded aluminium enclosures and sheet metal services on their Chinese site. And that was only after specifically looking for it. But even then I didn’t come to mind to see if I can actually pay or get it shipped internationally directly now(?). And even the shipping time would be somewhat of a hurdle for just trying it out.
That said, I would think a guide in itself would not be absolutely necessary today. I’ve been looking at some flights for this autumn and it seems harder to get out of Europe than in to Shenzhen with the direct flights, airport and metro. And for hotels Ctrip.com is now also Trip.com.
There was a new video on YouTube recently showing some of the infrastructure.
There are also some less recent ones that are good.
In addition to all the vlogs and such. So it is pretty accessible, but maybe still not familiar to most.
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