Shenzhen Special Economic Zone has existed for 40 years. What earth-shaking changes have Shenzhen experienced in these 40 years?

I grew up in Shenzhen, and now I have lived in Shenzhen for nearly 20 years, witnessing the amazing changes in Shenzhen.

I am not a native of Shenzhen, but I grew up in this first-tier metropolis. When I first came out to work in the society, all my colleagues from other places would think that I grew up in Shenzhen and must have never felt the happiness of my childhood in the countryside, but this is not the case!

When I was very young, I had an inner concept of the city and the countryside. I just thought this was the city where I lived. There were many fish ponds around my house at that time. We will catch fish with a group of children, catch tadpoles and frogs after lunch, and go to the seaside to catch crabs at low tide. In addition to many fish ponds and seashores, there are many fruit trees around where I live, such as carambola, litchi, longan, wampee and even Sakyamuni. There was only one Sakyamuni in our village at that time, which was planted by our grandmother across the street. We will climb the tree and pick fruit to eat. I will also enclose my own small vegetable garden and plant sweet potatoes and pumpkins. Of course, there will be many naughty children destroying your plants while you are away. In addition, there are pig farmers and sheep farmers. At that time, I could eat 1.5 glass bottles of fresh goat milk. Basically, every household in our family will have a dog to look after the house.

Sometimes there is a power outage in the village. There was almost no air conditioning in the village at that time. At night, it is very hot. Almost every household in our family will take a stool to enjoy the cool in the street every day, chat with fans and watch the stars. Like children of our age, we will run around the street and play all kinds of games, such as throwing sandbags, 123 wooden heads and hide-and-seek. During the Spring Festival, we will put on new clothes and go door to door to ask for red envelopes. Then a group of children will open the red envelopes and count them together. At that time, there will still be 1 in the red envelope, 2 yuan, and we are very happy to get 5 pieces of 10. Then buy firecrackers and snacks. Sometimes new clothes will be burnt by firecrackers, and parents will scold them when they go back.

This is Shenzhen when I was a child. Now, where I grew up, there were no fruit trees and a gymnasium was built. The seaside where I went to catch crabs has built a highway and built a park, and the former pigs and sheep have long since disappeared. Now I will still go back to the place where I lived at that time. It was different then. I was lucky to have a happy childhood and witnessed the development of this city.