I’ve been playing with Red Note and stumbled upon a map of Shenzhen that provides price per square meter by subway station. I’ve realized that (1) I live in the cheapest part of Futian and (2) it really is cheaper to live in parts of the city that have metro connections but no real social infrastructure.

In turn, the uneven distribution of social infrastructure returns (also on Red) results in classification of beasts of burden (牛马) based on where one lives. (I’ve annotated where useful.)

宝安：机场噪音大，刚需往这扎 Bao’an: The airport is noisy, but if you must live here, its got what you need (implying social infrastructure)

光明：科学家的梦，炒房客的坑 Guangming: Scientists’ dream, speculators’ trap (refering to the Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum Zaha Hadid Architects designed as an “interstellar arc.”)

龙岗：预算有限的，还要假装在深圳 Longgang: For those on a budget and want to pretend that they’re in Shenzhen.

龙华：福田睡城，早晚高峰堵到哭 Longhua: Futian’s bedroom, but rush hour delays will drive you to tears.

坪山：比亚迪总部，进城要两小时 Pingshan: BYD’s headquarters, and a two-hour drive to the city.

大鹏：周末去一趟，平时没人住 Dapeng: Weeked getaway, but none actually lives there.

盐田：有海有山，就是没有班上 Yantian: Seas and mountains, but no jobs.

罗湖：老钱躺平，新钱看不上 Luohu: Old money is laying down, and new money can’t stand it (because Luohu was one of the city’s first boom areas).

南山：码农睡公司，房东收租爽 Nanshan: Digital peasants sleep in their offices, while landlords happily collect rents.

福田：搞金融的，看起来有钱其实也是牛马 Futian: Its where finance happens, it looks like you’ve got money, but you’re still just a beast of burden.