With almost 53 Min passengers, Shenzen is the fifth busiest airport in China. It is one of the three largest airport hubs serving the Pearl River Delta, alongside Hong Kong and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. The airport is a hub for China Southern Airlines, Shenzen Airlines and a focus city for Hainan Airlines. SF Airlines uses SZX as their hub too. International carriers prefer the airport of Hong Kong instead of Shenzen but anyway you can catch some flights to and from the nearby countries.

General tips for China      
Some websites and app don’t work in China (like Whattsap or Facebook/Messanger ecc.) so you might need a list of useful apps:

• WeChat: every Chinese person has this app, it also has a good translation function that helps really a lot because the language is the main barrier. You can translate from Chinese writings and they can translate your English into Chinese characters. This is a must have.
• Didi: the Chinese “Uber”
• Baidu Maps: This is the “Google Maps” that works, instead of the Google one

We recommend to buy a prepaid card at the airport during transit as the chance to talk to an english speaking seller is much bigger there.

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Airport Information
Runways
15/33	3.400 m (11.155ft)
16/34	3.800 m (12.467ft)
Terminals	Actually there is one terminal with three concourses and an additional sattelite with four concourses.
Spotting Information
Ladder	No need of it.
Car/Public Transport	You can easily use the public transport to and from the locations.
Drinks/Food	Only available at spot 2. Spot 1 is far from civilization.
Hotels	The Hyatt Regency Hotel is the perfect place to stay (see spot 2).
Season	Summer is hot and humid. As it is also the rainy season thunderstorms or typhoons have to be expected. Autumn and winter is cooler and more dry, but it can get very hazy.
Security	Nothing special.
Runway Usage
General Info	Usually runway 16/34 is used for arrivals and 15/33 for departures.

Due to national security concerns, the use of geographic information in China is restricted and the layers in google maps don´t fit. The satellite images are correct but the street layers are displaced! 
Please click on the link at each location (WHERE) to get to the chinese website baidu where you find an exact map with satellite and street view images. If you use a smartphone please download the Baidu App.

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	Spot #1 – Hill – 15 movements
WHERE	This spot is reachable at its best by subway line 11(dark purple colour). Alight at “Airport North” station. If you come from the city centre it is one station after the Airport Terminal Station. There is still some airport extension work going on around this area. But the subway station is already in service. Get out of the station and just follow the gravel road like in the screenshot. Basically you have to walk northbound. You can see already the sandy hill in the distance which is your target. In between is a small river which needs to be crossed. But there are some opportunities to make it onto the other side without getting wet. Just beware of the contruction vehicels crossing your way. After the successful river crossing just walk straight up the hill and find a prefered spot. But there is almost no shade, just a few trees. So bring some sun protection. Link to BAIDU Maps
WHAT	From here you can see all movements on runway 15: Line ups, arrivals and touch downs with the general aviation terminal and cargo apron in the background. In the far distance you can even see the city. Heat haze can be problematic for the touch down shooting.
TIME	Best time is from high noon till sunset all year round.
MISC.	There is nothing nearby. The closest facility and shops are in the airport terminal one subway stop away. So get prepared and bring what you need for the duration of your stay including sun protection. There are just a few trees on the hill spending some but not too much shade. And make sure not to astonish any snake in the high grass surrounding the trees. No one should bother you. The nearby construction crews just doing their work and don´t care about you. This spot is also famous amongst local spotters.
FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm is perfect for this spot.

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	Spot #2 – Hyatt Regency Hotel – 34 movements
WHERE	The spotting location is at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, which is just next to the airports terminal. The spot itself is on the terrace of the hotel, so you have to book a hotel room to get access. Once outside you have a perfect sight of the 34 arrivals.
WHAT	A wonderful place for all 34 arrivals as well as 34 line-ups in the distance.
TIME	From sunset until 10:00
MISC.	This is a quiet place where you can easily take your photos without being disturbed.
FOCAL LENGTH	50-300mm

SZX-Spot2

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