Expat photographers pose for a photo in front of Guangming Science City Exhibition Center during a photoshooting trip to Guangming District yesterday. Photos by Liu Xudong 

Expat photographers gave a thumbs-up to the development plan of Guangming Science City and the green development of Guangming District after participating in a photoshooting trip to the district yesterday.

The trip, a spin-off of the Expats Eye Shenzhen Photo Contest, was organized by Shenzhen Daily, EYESHENZHEN.com and the publicity department of the Guangming District Party Committee. It gathered some 20 expat photographers from countries including Belgium, the U.S., the U.K., Russia, Colombia, India, Turkey, the Philippines, South Africa, the Czech Republic and Moldova.

Expat photographers visit Guangming Science City Exhibition Center yesterday.

Apart from well-known traditional tourist sites, including Guangming Farm and OCT Farm, where they experienced agritainment, the expats also visited FIYTA World at the Shenzhen clock and watch industrial base, the demonstration hall of Guangming Science City, and Hongqiao Park (Red Bridge Park). The science city will become an internationalized comprehensive national science center by 2035.

An aerial shot of the floating bridge at Dadingling Greenway.

The photographers pose for a photo at Hongqiao Park.

Chiranjib Chakraborty, an Indian photography enthusiast and Huawei employee, spoke highly of the science city and Guangming's ecological development.

He said: "I've been in Shenzhen for seven years. I decided to shift to China for the reason of technology, because I work for Huawei, which is doing a lot for technology. I heard about Guangming before and the plan to build the science city here. But I've never expected it to be so large and meticulously planned. It's not just the technology development, but the overall ecosystem ranging from tourism to the overall development of people and the facilities along with science and technology. I saw the overall growth is huge."

Chiranjib Chakraborty and his wife Sanghamitra Chakraborty pose for a photo yesterday.

For Sanghamitra Chakraborty, Chiranjib Chakraborty's wife, the trip was definitely a beautiful experience because they had never explored this part of Shenzhen before. "We love being here in such a beautiful place. When we heard about this plan [Guangming Science City] of the government for the next 15-20 years, we found it amazing. We loved it, actually."

Chiranjib captured wonderful drone photos showing Guangming's development in Hongqiao Park. "Actually, I was trying to get the aerial shots of the bridge, because you see that red bridge and the white bridge have very unique patterns. All the bridges that I saw were built with unique patterns that have gone through the green. So there are two things to see. One is the development of the bridges, the other one is that, the bridges were developed within the greenery, which means the trees are also given the same equal weight as the development. Nature and development go hand by hand."

Expat photographers were deeply impressed by Guangming's ecological achievements. 

Chiranjib was touched by what he saw at Guangming Farm. "What I like most about this part is not just the overall development, but also that they are encouraging children to feed the calves with milk. That's a human touch. And I think that's one of the unique aspects. I think China is [doing] very good at that.”

"It's my first time to see a real cow. I took many pictures," Maksim Silenko from Russia said. "We met one big fake cow there, which is the biggest cow statue in Asia."

He acclaimed that Guangming is full of green zones and lovely people. He would bring his wife and future child to the place and have fun in the district, he added.

Expats also harvested great fun from the OCT Farm by picking fresh strawberries by themselves. "Picking strawberries is fun for a whole family. No fruit tastes as sweet as the ones you picked with your own hands, slowly going through them, picking your favorite shade of red, looking for the richest and best shaped ones," Frantisek Bina from the Czech Republic told Shenzhen Daily.

"This is my first time in Guangming. Amazing place, amazing stuff, amazing parks, so many nice bridges… The red bridge is really amazing. It's so long and nice with wood around. I have some nice pictures. Guangming is a really nice place, with gardens, farms, nice people and clear air," said Iuri Tarasenco from Moldova.