The most striking thing about visiting the southern industrial cities for me was how (especially towards the outskirts) they tend to build the exact same residential skyscraper several times next to each other. You just don't really see that in Western cities so much.
If interested about Shenzhen, I'd highly recommend watching this mesmerizing feature on Wired UK: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY</a>
"...internet access and freedom is curtailed: popular sites like Google, Facebook and YouTube are not accessible."<p>That line caught my attention for two things.<p>One, it intimates internet access is related to freedom, which I think has merit.<p>And second, Google, Facebook, and YouTube are obviously not essential, cause those millions get by just fine without them.