Note: these mall descriptions were written while I lived in Shenzhen, mostly between 2008 and 2013, and merged into one guide in 2026. Shops, supermarkets, opening hours and metro exits will have changed – treat this as an overview of the city’s big malls and their character rather than a current directory. Several supermarket chains mentioned (Jusco, Carrefour) have since left China.
Shenzhen has an enormous number of shopping malls, and for a long time each new one
tried to be more marble-clad and more luxury-branded than the last. For a resident the
malls matter less for the Gucci stores than for what else they contain: a Western-stocked
supermarket, a cinema, an ice rink, a food court, somewhere to eat that isn’t fast food.
This guide walks through the main ones by area.
Futian and the centre
Central Walk
Central Walk in the Central Business District in Futian is one of the more up-market shopping malls. It has quite an interesting architecture, partially below ground level but open and with walking promenades. The inside is build in a circle with many expensive clothes brands on the first floor.
Central Walk in Shenzhen
A very big Carrefour supermarket can be found at the basement floor.This supermarket has a good selection of foreign foods and obviously many French brands. The bread here is very cheap and good quality. Often has good meat and cheeses. There are also many restaurants at Central Walk. Pizza, pasta, korean, subway sandwitches and many more.
We enjoyed the food delight in Central Walk: many different styles of food and you can first look around what you like. After that you go to the counter where you want to order. No need to speak Chinese, because you can just point at the food everywhere 🙂 It’s easy to miss it though when you walk past, because the entrance is not so big: all the stuff happens on the inside. Besides lots of restaurants there are also some bars and I always see many foreigners in this area.
Verdict: 7.5/10 Many restaurants and some bars. Carrefour is also very convenient. Brand clothes are too expensive for us.
How to get there: It’s very convenient to take the subway. Get off at the intersection of lines 1 and 4 at Hui Zhan Zhong Xin (Exhibition Center). You will walk straight into the shopping mall.
Website: Central Walk website (Chinese)
Citic City Plaza
Citic City Plaza is a high-end shopping mall in Futian district. We don’t often go to Citic Plaza because most of the shops are luxury international brands. If you want some Gucci, DG, Louis Vuitton, Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Versace, Calvin Klein, Christian Dior etc, then Citic plaza definitely has all you need. Citic Plaza is comparable to Mixc in this regard. Below ground you’ll also find a very big Jusco supermarket.
Citic City Plaza
On the same floor as the Jusco supermarket is also a small food court. Jusco is one of the better supermarkets in the city and also a little bit more expensive than your local neighbourhood market, but they carry quite a lot of Western (and Japanese) foods. I guess only Ole supermarket has more Western foods. The upper levels of Citic Plaza are usually very empty, because most people just go to Jusco or some of the cheaper shops on the bottom level. There are several restaurants as well at Citic Plaza. We went to the very good Shanghainese restaurant YuYuan , but fastfood chains such as KFC and Pizza Hut are also present.
In front of the Citic Plaza building is a big square and one one side of the square are various bars. It’s even called “International Bar Street” and in the evening can be quite busy.
Photos:
Front of Citic City Plaza with the logo
Front of Citic City Plaza with advertisements for Seibu, Jusco, Pizza Hut and various other brands. To the right (not really visible) is the bar street.
The bar street during the day, still empty.
Inside Citic Plaza, lots of very expensive brands and quite empty
Inside the Jusco supermarket
Small food court next to Jusco
How to get there: Citic City Plaza is located in Futian district between SEG and Dong Men and it’s easiest to take the subway to KeXueGuan (Science Museum) and then take exit D and walk underground to the plaza. One stop further is the other high-end shopping mall MixC .
Opening hours: daily from 10:30am to 10pm
MixC
MixC (pronounced Mix City) is located in Luohu district at subway station Da Ju Yuan. It’s one of the most expensive and up-scale shopping centers in Shenzhen. Many expensive foreign brands and foreign restaurants such as the excellent French restaurant La Belle Epoque. On the first floor is the foreign Ole supermarket with lots of good breads and cakes. Very expensive, but if you crave for a good sandwitch or chocolate cake or some special imports, this is the place to come! On the fourth floor is an iceskating ring and on the fifth floor, looking out over the iceskating ring, is a Delicity food court. There are of course also many fast-food chains and other Western chains: McDonalds, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, KFC, Spaghetti House, Haagen-Dazs etc. There is also a big modern cinema called Golden Harvest Cinema.
View inside the luxurious MixC shopping mall in Shenzhen
MixC is five floors, this photo captures all of them. Notice the sailing boat on the bottom!
View from outside the MixC shopping mall.
MixC (partially visible left corner with Gucci logo) is easy to find, on the opposite side of the tallest building of Shenzhen.
How to get there: Take subway to Da Ju Yuan and follow the signs to MixC.
Opening hours: Sun-Thu 10am-10pm; Fri-Sat 10am-11:30pm
Website: http://www.themixc.com/
KK Mall
KK Mall is the latest high-end shopping mall in Shenzhen, within walking distance of both Citic Plaza and MixCity. They opened in December 2010 and advertised throughout the city, but when we went there today (Januari 8 2011) it was not very busy. On top of the shopping mall there are a couple of residential towers and inside you’ll find lots of expensive brands. There is also a supermarket called ‘BLT’ on the bottom floor. It reminded me of Ole supermarket in MixC. Furthermore there are some good restaurants and the first IMAX cinema of Shenzhen. The interior of KK Mall is very similar to the newly opened Dreams On department store opposite to Coco Park , both use a lot of marble, perhaps that’s the new trend?
Interior of KK Mall
KK Mall inside
Blt supermarket, with a good bread corner
Top floor of KK Mall, looking down. The glass roof on the top provides quite a lot of natural light and around it are the residential buildings
There is also a foodcourt on the top floor of KK Mall. We didn’t have time to try it out, but it looked good.
Verdict: 7/10. Some good restaurants, a food court (always one of my favorite things in an Asian shopping mall) and even an IMAX cinema.
How to get there: Take the subway to DaJuYuan (大剧院) and then take exit B. Walk about 50 meters straight ahead and then turn right. After about 400 meters, you arrive at KK Mall. It’s close to MixC and CITIC Plaza .
KK Mall has not been added, so I linked to the tall building next to it
Coco Park
Coco Park is a modern shopping complex located at the GouWuGongYuan subway stop. It is build partially above and partially underground with a large open area in the center. The street level has various expensive clothes shops, but on other levels there are various restaurants (update June 2009 – and a great food court called Delicity ) and even some bars and a starbucks coffee. When you go down one floor, you will find Jusco supermarket, a Japanese brand that is a bit more expensive than other supermarkets but offers a good selection of foreign foods and seems to have good quality stuff as well. There is also a modern cinema Broadway Circuit and some basketball arcade games.
On saturday evening it can be very busy in the barstreet at the West side of Coco park. We went there in february 2009 and it was literally packed with people around 23:30 in the evening. Most other parts of the city are pretty deserted at this time.
One of the entrances to Coco park
Spring Festival 2008 in Coco park. Looking from the top down into Coco Park.
Coco Park with Jusco supermarket on the bottom and Super Steak restaurant on the top (3rd floor).
How to get there: Address: Coco park, Fuhua Rd. 3, Futian district Shenzhen Subway is most convenient: take the GouWuGongYuan stop and you are immediately inside Coco park.
Opening hours: ings hours: 10am – 10pm; friday and saturday until 10:30pm. Subway also closes at 10pm during the weekdays, so it’s better to leave before that time.
Website: http://www.cocopark.cn/(Chinese)
Dreams-On (formerly Moi)
Friday evening, the 25th of November 2010 the department store formerly known as Moi (in Futian district, across the road from Coco Park) reopened after several months of redecorating. Moi was always relatively high-end and didn’t look ‘old’ at all, but apparently it was not high-end enough. So they closed the mall and put in lots of marble. My wife went there at the day of the opening to take some photos and shop.
Dreams-On department store on opening day
Dreams-on feels quite spacious. The walking corridors are very wide, you can easily drive a car through it. They used lots of marble as well. Previously the first floor of Moi sold mainly shoes, jewelry and watches, but now the shoes have been replaced by cosmetics and clothes. Dreams-On in total has two floors. On the second floor is also a good sized supermarket.
Dreams-on has a distinctive look to it. The outside has been redecorated as well and now has a square-neon lightning effect. Hard to describe, but you can see the photos below.
Photos:
new logo, name and lightning
looking down from the 2nd floor
the open area at the north entrance shows the two floors clearly
Also some baby/kids clothes and buggies
How to get there: Take the subway to Gou Wu Gong Yuan (Coco Park). Walk through Coco Park, go up to the ground level and cross the road towards the South of Coco Park. You’ll immediately see Dreams-On
Opening hours: Daily 10:00 – 22:30
Women’s World
Women’s world is the name of a department store where they sell everything for women: clothes, shoes, cosmetics. There are a couple of brands, but mostly it’s very affordable. They target the mid-range of the market: more expansive than Dong Men , but not as expensive as Citic City plaza or Mix City. My girlfriend often likes to go shopping here. Because because it is close to SEG and the other electronics markets it is a good combination for couples.
Verdict: 9/10 : not too expensive, many many shops around this area. Electronics for the guys closeby. Enough good restaurants as well.
How to get there: Women’s World is on Huaqiang North Road near SEG Electronics Market . Metro to Huaqiang Lu station and take exit A. Turn left at the intersection of Huaqiang Middle Road and Huaqiang North Road. The entrance to Ladies’ World is on the left after the next intersection.
Bonus: Tiananmen Square in ‘Lego’
While we were looking around in the relatively new Jusco in Futian district, we came across this beautifully made copy of Tiananmen Square to commemorate the 60th anniversary of China. It looks like Lego, but it’s some Chinese brand. Very impressive – and also very very expensive! The price-tag for the whole set: 88888Yuan (so about 9000 euro!). I don’t think they want anyone to actually buy it, but it sure looks great!
Enjoy the photos below:
Click the thumbnails for higher resolution photos (1024×768):
Forbidden City on left with stands for spectators
Army marching past the forbidden city
People’s great hall
Overview so you can see how big it is!
Luohu
King Glory Plaza (and the malls around it)
King Glory Plaza in Luohu district is quite close to Dong Men. When you take the subway, get off at GuoMao (one stop before Luohu trainstation). The ground floor and upper floors are home to several expensive brands, but luckily there are also afforable brands such as Zara, American Apparel etc. When we were there in april 2009, there was a sale at the basement (same level as subway entrance). There are also lots of restaurants and food shops at this level : Breadtalk, Croissants de France, Malaysian curry, Taiwanese baozi, hotpot, Brazilian food and several others.
When you walk from King Glory to the northeast, you will pass two other shopping malls: first Shenzhen International Trade Plaza. This shopping mall is less big but there is a Subway inside this one 🙂
After the Trade Plaza shopping mall, you will encounter Rainbow/Partyworld. Here is a good supermarket with plenty of good vegetables and fruit (though not so much bread). Also some clothes shops, just like other Rainbow stores in Shenzhen. Continue along the road and you will see a huge U-shaped footbridge which leads you to the Dong Men shopping area.
luxury interior of King Glory Plaza
West entrance to King Glory Plaza, to the left (not visible) is Dong Men
Interior of Shenzhen International Trade Plaza. On the 3rd floor on the right side is Subway.
When we were there april 2009, there was a clothes sale at the ground floor
Rainbow / Partyworld building. Just to the left is Dong Men.
Footbridge between DongMen (on the left) and the more upmarket area (Rainbow, Trade Plaza and King Glory) on the right
How to get there: Easiest is to take the subway to GuoMao, which is one stop before the end of the line (at Luohu). Then take exit A:
Luohu Commercial City
“LuoHu Commercial City” is the first major shopping center / district you’ll find as soon as you cross the border into Shenzhen from the train. As you exit customs you’ll walk out into a huge outdoor courtyard. If you go ahead then off to your right you’ll find the entrance to the shopping center. It’s not obvious to spot at first so just watch for where people are entering and exiting. The mall is in a sleek blue glass building at the exit of the Chinese border crossing.
The center itself is five levels high and apparently the quality of goods improves with the higher the level. Level five is where all the tailors and clothing shops are, and there are a maze of them. The center also sells knock-off copies of electronics, camera and computer related gear (complete with copy-cat labels). The center also sells jewelry, toys, bags, shoes, cellphone accessories and so on. You need to bargain hard (about 1/3 of the original price and expect that everything is fake, especially Gucci, Chanel etc) Also be aware of pickpockets everywhere!
LuoHu Commercial City building
How to get there: Address: Luohu border crossing Subway is most convenient if you are already in Shenzhen. Just take the subway till the end of the line.
Nanshan and Shekou
Coastal City
Coastal City is a big luxurious shopping mall in Shekou, very near to the Shekou bridge to HongKong. It’s a huge complex with man good restaurants such as Tairyo Teppanyaki (Japanese all-you-can-eat), Thai food, Italian restaurants, Shanghai cuisine and much more. At the ground floor there is also a Jusco supermarket. Inside Coastal City is an iceskating ring, Poly International Cinema and next to the shopping mall is a good theater in the shape of an egg: Poly Theater .
Coastal City interior during Christmas 2008
Some art outside the shopping mall. The tall white building on the right is the Kempinski Hotel (with the famous lucky phone numbers 88888888 )
Iceskating ring in Coastal City, you can also take skating lessons here
How to get there: Address: 深圳市南山区文心五路33号海岸城购物中心 Coastal City, NO. 33 Wenxin Road 5,Nanshan Distrit,Shenzhen You can take bus 121 for example. It’s also quite close to the Kempinski Hotel.
Yitian Holiday Plaza
Yitian holiday plaza is the newest mega shopping mall in Shenzhen. It is conveniently located across the road from Window of the World. There are many famous international (expensive) brands, but also enough on offer for the smaller wallet: On the basement floor there is a big brand-new Ole supermarket. This is the second store of this French chain in Shenzhen (the first was in MixC) it and the supermarket looks very good. Certainly some competition for Carrefour, Jusco and Wal*Mart.
Ole supermarket in Yitian plaza Shenzhen
Every self-respecting shopping mall in Shenzhen nowadays needs to have a ice skating ring.The newest addition is Yitian shopping plaza across from Window of the World. On the basement floor (B2) on the West side of the building you will find a new ice skating ring. At the end of november 2008 it was still under construction, but since there is already 1cm of ice, I suspect it will open soon.
Yitian ice skating ring
Verdict: 7/10 Most shops are way too expensive, but there are some nice restaurants and a good supermarket.
How to get there: Easiest to take the subway to Window of the World and then get off at Exit A (until the new subway exit directly to Yitian plaza is opened).
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