Shenzhen is a great place to be if you are building electronic and related hardware. There are a lot of great videos and books about this, most notably by Bunnie Huang [ Book and Blog ] and this map by Seeed Studio.
I had a reasonable amount of time there to roam Huaqiang Bei ( abbreviated as HQB) (Huaqiang North), the electronics street and catalog the marketplace there. I am sharing a few pictures / observations / tips / comments based on my time there:
They are quite professional, have multiple assembly lines, and almost always do more than just PCBA. They can do sourcing, PCB fabrication, assembly and testing, including making the test jig according to your PCB. They may or may not charge you for making the test jig, and they may or may not make the jig in house. They usually have partners for making the rest of your product i.e. peripherals, connectors, housing. The bigger PCBA firms will charge you for testing based on how simple or complex and how slow or fast the testing is. These factories can churn out hundreds of thousands of assembled PCBs, a month.Pick and place machinePick and place and inspection machines for assembled PCBs are very common, and you shouldn’t really be going with EMS / CMs which don’t have that anymore.
You can generally just walk up to stores and buy component reels (thousands of them) at a time. Samples are a little costly (relative term, nowhere as expensive as buying them in retail in your home country). Like Alex puts it, “you don’t really pay for the samples, you pay for the service of cutting them”. These samples might not always be the brand you are looking for, so if your design cannot tolerate small variances, you will be better off buying branded components from verified distributors. For most prototypes and designs though, you should be just fine.Of course, not all components are stocked, but another tip I picked up, says that if you can’t find it anywhere, see if it is possible to redesign your device using alternatives that are heavily used and readily stocked. This will save you long lead times later. Another great idea when it comes to components (thanks again, Alex) is having a sample book, much like a photo album, where you label and stock strips of common components (resistors, capacitors, etc). That will save you a lot of grief if you prototype frequently, the time saved in not having to go to the market / wait for your order to arrive alone is worth it. Makerspaces There are quite a few makerspaces, and they have a lot of great equipment. There’s Chaihuo (and x.factory ) run by Seeed Studio which is a bit away from the hustle and bustle of the market. TroubleMaker on the other hand is smack above the market, you can literally just walk down and buy all the tools and materials that you need. Special shout out to Henk from Troublemaker, they have a modest but very well equipped lab, and if you ever need anything done or made quickly, just head there. Alex hangs out there as well, and is super helpful with anything related to electronics. Troublemaker
Certain buildings are great for buying specific things, obviously. Here are some I found below :
Of course, these markets are dynamic in nature and shops keep on moving around too, so your mileage may vary. HQB was also shut in part for a couple of years due to some construction work, and that has lead to reduced footfalls and shops closing down. Certain buildings have entire floors almost empty. Hopefully these buildings will see a rebound, it is an amazing one-stop-shop for everything electronic. Most things will be cheaper than ordering on websites, but if they are not, bargain 😉
You’re going to have a hard time if you are vegetarian, but you will survive. There are Indian restaurants, vegan restaurants, and Buddhist restaurants, and they understand the concept of vegetarian perfectly well, so you won’t starve. Hit me up for specific recommendations. The Iced Teas and fruit teas there are simply heavenly, have them every chance you get.
Dongmen is an area near HQB that is very popular for shopping, street or otherwise. They have great fashion, accessories and all other kinds of stores, and they are open until 11pm or so, so you can head there after HQB closes.
There are bullet trains to Guangzhou that will take you there in 40-90 minutes, based on which of the two lines you take. The G line is faster, and goes straight to Guangzhou, whereas the C line makes a few stops in between. The trains go upto 307 kmph.Train There is amazing metro and bus connectivity, so you should be able to get to any part of the city fairly quickly and conveniently without spending too much. Cabs are easily available too though they are of course not as cost-effective. Road traffic is bad in working hours, and cars from other cities are not available on certain roads during this time. The three cities of Shenzhen, Dongguan and Guangzhou literally blend with each other, there are almost no perceivable city limits.
Talking to them is hard, very few people speak English. Download Baidu Translate, it works a lot better than Google Translate .Also Baidu Maps. And everybody uses WeChat to message, call, navigate, pay and more. You can thank me later.
If you are an Engineer, no matter which discipline, Shenzhen is your Mecca. Of course there’s a lot more to Shenzhen than this, and I’ll update this post if you hit me up and remind me what I missed, with your questions.