If you’re a future Research @ Scale resident reading this, scroll to the bottom to see my pro-est pro tips for navigating life in Shenzhen – I had to do a lot of logistical learning and I’d like to save you, dear reader, the trouble of figuring out the things I figured out along the way!
Here’s what I worked on during my month in Shenzhen, as a part of the Research @ Scale residency.
I am so incredibly grateful to all of the sponsors for giving me the opportunity to experience what has been truly one of best months of my life!
During the first hectic week I had a lot of fun attending the Scalable HCI conference, visiting factories / Huaqiangbei / the UABB Biennale / AIRS, and getting settled into my apartment at Boyu and the makerspace at Chaihuo.
I spent the rest of my time in Shenzhen making a whimsical art robot called Labububot, with fellow resident Jake Read.
More on Labububot here!
Labububot (they/them) is a 12-headed, spherical robot.
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c3b5b5f4-7f28-4f24-a35f-e6e06569df5c
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/790c8d50-3174-4930-8c23-f068ced3f498
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/d02e6ae4-7f6f-4bf3-8652-7b570cbcb863
Logistical advice for future MIT residents
- Begin the VISA process as soon as you can! If you’re a US citizen, the nearest Chinese embassy is in New York. The process I went through went like this:
- Fill out the online form here. I applied for a L (tourist) visa valid for 120 months (10 years), max duration 90 days, multiple entry. Pro tip: it doesn’t cost any extra money to max out the parameters like this on the tourist visa, so you may as well – that way if you want to come back you won’t have to go through this process again! Some people in the program applied for a student visa, using the invitation letter from SUSTech. It seems like either way is fine.
- Check the status of your application – it usually takes around 2 days before you are “invited” to bring your passport in (in-person!) to the embassy.
- Drop off your passport at the NY embassy – Ben and I went first thing in the morning and the line was very short. They will give you a slip – DO NOT LOSE IT! Take a picture of it just in case.
- Wait a few days (depending on if you’ve gotten express or normal service), then return to the embassy to collect your passport. Or, have someone you trust bring the slip to the embassy, and they can collect your passport for you! You don’t have to collect it immediately when it is ready.
- If you’re only staying in China you don’t need an outlet converter; most outlets are also compatible with US-style plugs.
- You must download WeChat. WeChat can be used for everything from ordering at restaurants to calling cabs to messaging, and more.
- Set up WeChat Pay and AliPay before you arrive! Most places will take both.
- I used the MIT VPN on my laptop, and got a trip.com e-SIM which covers both China and Hong Kong (since my flight was out of HK). I’d highly recommend this, it comes with a VPN built in when you use the cellular data, so as long as you get enough data you don’t need to fuss with an additional mobile VPN!
- China Mobile has a 2-month, free phone plan for getting a +86 phone number; all you need is a vessel for a physical SIM! If I had known, I would have done this as soon as I arrived in China.
- I still had an e-SIM I was using for data, but having a Chinese phone number is super helpful for many things, including but not limited to creating a Taobao account ;)
- Google Maps doesn’t work well, Apple Maps is alright, Amap is best.
- Dianping is the Chinese version of Yelp. I used this to find a salon to dye my hair at :)
- I haven’t tried it, but I only recently found out that hqew.com is a website where you can search for components and find them in the HQB markets. Might be helpful if you’re trying to find something specific!
- Visiting Hong Kong is cheap and easy from Shenzhen - you can take high speed rail from Futian or Shenzhenbei to West Kowloon; it’s about a 15min train ride and costs less than $20! You can book tickets through trip.com or klook.com, for example. I recommend arriving at the station an hour before your train, especially on the way back from HK -> SZ – there are some airport-esque baggage and customs checks which will take some time! On the SZ -> HK route, the customs happen in West Kowloon after you arrive. Make sure to bring an outlet converter – HK uses UK plugs!
- Calling cars is cheap and easy via Didi - I usually do this from within the WeChat mini-program. When you get into the car, you will need to confirm the last 4 digits of your phone number with the driver. If you don’t speak Chinese I’d recommend having these written down so you can just show the driver instead.