Get to know Futian District
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- Administrative area
- District · 市辖区
- Part of
- Shenzhen
- Chinese name
- 福田区
- Local areas
- District guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 78.80 km²
- Population · 2022
- 1,553,200
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
The ground is higher in the north, where low hills including Bijia Mountain (笔架山) and Lianhua Mountain (莲花山) run through the north and centre of the district, and falls to a coastal plain built up by the Shenzhen River in the south. Along Shenzhen Bay the Neilingding–Futian national nature reserve (内伶仃岛-福田国家级自然保护区) protects a mangrove wetland.
History
One account traces the name to 1192, when a son of the founder of Shangsha (上沙) village cleared land into neatly squared fields and called the place Futian (幅田), later written with characters read as "fortune gained from the fields". Under the Ming and Qing the area belonged to Xin'an County (新安县), and in the Republican period to Bao'an County (宝安县); a commune took the name Futian in 1978, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs approved Futian District in January 1990. Communities such as Shangsha, Xiasha (下沙) and Xinzhou (新洲) still showed their village roots from the 1990s into the 2010s, with dense self-built housing, and are popularly called urban villages (城中村).
What to see
Lianhuashan Park (莲花山公园), north of the central business district, has a full-length bronze statue of Deng Xiaoping on its main peak overlooking the centre, and the Guan Shanyue Art Museum (关山月美术馆) at its south-east corner. On a slope in its north-west corner is the tomb of Huang Motang (黄默堂), first ancestor of the Huang clan of Xiasha, built in 1248; the district government describes it as the only Southern Song pagoda-shaped tomb found in Shenzhen, and it has been a provincial heritage site since 2002.
The Shangsha Tianhou Temple (上沙天后宫), beside the Huaide Huang ancestral hall (怀德黄公祠) in Shangsha village, was first built in the Ming; the present Qing-style brick-and-timber hall has wood carving on its beams and plaster reliefs of animals and plants on its ridge and gables and is among the oldest traditional buildings in Shenzhen. The Mangrove Park (红树林公园) lies on the Nanshan border opposite Hong Kong. Other parks include Central Park (中心公园), Lychee Park (荔枝公园), Bijiashan Park (笔架山公园) and Meilin Park (梅林公园), and Huaqiangbei (华强北) and Chegongmiao (车公庙) are the main commercial areas. The Ping An Finance Centre (平安国际金融中心), which the district government calls Shenzhen's tallest building, is also here.
Getting oriented
Futian borders Longhua District (龙华区) to the north. The Futian and Huanggang (皇岗) border crossings, both in the district, link mainland China with Hong Kong.
Highlights
- Lianhuashan Park 莲花山公园: Deng Xiaoping statue on the summit, Guan Shanyue Art Museum and a Southern Song tomb dated 1248.
- Futian mangroves 福田红树林: Mangrove wetland of the Neilingding-Futian national nature reserve on Shenzhen Bay.
- Shangsha Tianhou Temple 上沙天后宫: Ming-founded temple in Qing style, among Shenzhen's oldest traditional buildings.
- Huaqiangbei 华强北: One of the district's main commercial areas.
Sources for this guide
福田区 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
福田概况-福田概况-福田政府在线 · Futian District People's Government
莲花山公园有座南宋古墓-名胜古迹-福田政府在线 · Futian District People's Government
上沙天后宫-名胜古迹-福田政府在线 · Futian District People's Government
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-25.
Explore Futian District
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Futian District
Shenzhen Museum History and Folk Culture Hall · 深圳博物馆历史民俗馆Shenzhen Museum History and Folk Culture Hall深圳博物馆历史民俗馆
The History and Folk Culture Hall (深圳博物馆历史民俗馆) is the Jintian Road venue of Shenzhen Museum, housed in the Civic Center in Futian District. It carries the museum's main account of Shenzhen's past, from prehistoric settlement on the Pearl River estuary to the making of the special economic zone.
Read the place guide →
AI illustration · AI 示意图（仅供参考，非该地点实拍）Futian Mangrove Birdwatching Area福田红树林开放观鸟区
The open birdwatching ground at the Futian mangroves (福田红树林开放观鸟区) is the publicly accessible Futian Mangrove Ecological Park in Futian District, Shenzhen, laid out where the Xinzhou River meets the Shenzhen River at the head of Shenzhen Bay. It borders, but is not part of, the Guangdong Neilingding-Futian National Nature Reserve.
Read the place guide →
The Futian CBD skyline seen from the hilltop plaza of Lianhuashan Park, with flowering shrubs in the foreground, Shenzhen. · 深圳市福田区莲花山公园山顶广场眺望福田中央商务区，前景为花丛。 Source-recorded photograph date: 2025-12-27 15:35:58.Lianhuashan Park莲花山公园
181-hectare hill park in central Shenzhen, opened in 1997, with the Deng Xiaoping statue on its summit plaza and views over the Civic Center.
Read the place guide →
The angular exterior of the Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning in Futian, Shenzhen · 深圳福田区当代艺术与城市规划馆的外观 Source-recorded photograph date: 2026-07-02 16:08:21.Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning当代艺术与城市规划馆
The Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning (当代艺术与城市规划馆), known in English as MOCAUP, stands at 184 Fuzhong Road in Lianhua Subdistrict, Futian District, Shenzhen. It is a single building holding two institutions: a contemporary art museum and the city's urban planning museum.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Futian District covers the centre of Shenzhen. Search for 福田区 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Shenzhen Museum History and Folk Culture Hall and Futian Mangrove Birdwatching Area are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Shenzhen →More in Shenzhen
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 福田区 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Shenzhen Museum History and Folk Culture Hall · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Photo: Lianhuashan Park · Pathfinbird · CC BY-SA 4.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Photo: Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning · Pathfinbird · CC BY 4.0. Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.