'Miracle' metropolis now a global magnet

For Canadian entrepreneur Luc Junior Denommee, one of Shenzhen's greatest attractions is not its futuristic skyline or the technology giants that call it home. It is the ease with which an idea can become a product.

In Huaqiangbei, the sprawling electronics marketplace at the heart of the city in Guangdong province, almost everything an entrepreneur needs — from batteries and electronic components to product designers, precision machining services and logistics providers — can be found within easy reach.

The concentration of suppliers and expertise means that an idea can move from the drawing board to a working prototype with remarkable speed, an advantage that impressed Denommee when he first arrived in Shenzhen in 2007.

"Every month, there's something new about the memory, about design. Here is the capital of electronics, I would say, in the world."

Nearly two decades later, the marketplace continues to surprise him with new products and technologies. But Shenzhen has given Denommee something beyond business opportunities: a sense of belonging.

"I feel more at home in Shenzhen than anywhere else in the world," he said. "Here, I'm really part of an ecosystem which is growing. I feel I am living. I am not surviving."