Get to know Luohu District
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- Administrative area
- District · 市辖区
- Part of
- Shenzhen
- Chinese name
- 罗湖区
- Local areas
- District guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 78.89 km²
- Population · 2020
- 1,143,801
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
The district covers about 78.75 square kilometres of hilly ground. Hongling Road (红岭路) marks the line with Futian (福田区) to the west, while the Wutong range forms a natural boundary with Yantian (盐田区) to the east. Wutong Mountain, at 944 metres the highest peak in Shenzhen, rises in the east of the district. Freshwater bodies include Donghu, Honghu and Xianhu lakes, and the Shenzhen Reservoir (深圳水库), a major water source for both Shenzhen and Hong Kong, is also here.
History
The name comes from the old Luohu village, itself named after Luohu Hill, a mound ringed by ponds near today's border crossing; the hill was levelled when Shenzhen Station and the port were built. Before the Special Economic Zone, the area was the market town of Shenzhen Xu (深圳圩), centred on Dongmen around the surviving Tianhou temple site. In 1953 Bao'an County (宝安县) moved its seat here from Nantou (南头) because the town was linked to the Guangzhou–Kowloon Railway. Luohu District was formed from Shenzhen town in January 1979, the first district of the new city, and in 1997 Shatoujiao, Yantian and Meisha were split off to create Yantian District.
What to see
Dongmen Old Street (东门老街), on the site of old Shenzhen town, became a pedestrian quarter after a period-style rebuild in 1999; a bronze sculpture in its central square shows the market of the late Qing and early Republican years, and the first McDonald's in mainland China opened here. The towers of the district include the International Trade Centre (国贸大厦), the Diwang Building (地王大厦), long the tallest in the city, and the 441.28-metre KK100 (京基100), completed in 2011. The Shenzhen government describes Donghu Liyuan (东湖丽苑) on Aiguo Road as one of the earliest commercial housing estates on the mainland.
Xianhu Botanical Garden (仙湖植物园) lies on the eastern outskirts with Wutong Mountain behind it and the Shenzhen Reservoir to the west. Built from 1983 and opened on 1 May 1988, it was visited by Deng Xiaoping (邓小平) on 22 January 1992 and was rated a national 4A scenic area in 2007; its areas include a cycad conservation centre, a fossil forest and Hongfa Temple (弘法寺).
Highlights
- Wutong Mountain 梧桐山: Shenzhen's highest peak at 944 metres, forming the district's eastern boundary with Yantian.
- Dongmen Old Street 东门老街: Pedestrian quarter on the site of old Shenzhen town, rebuilt in period style in 1999.
- Xianhu Botanical Garden 仙湖植物园: Botanical garden on Wutong Mountain's south-west slope, opened in 1988 and rated 4A in 2007.
- KK100 京基100: 441.28-metre tower completed in 2011, which took over from the Diwang Building as Shenzhen's landmark.
Sources for this guide
罗湖区 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
内地商品房的”原点”：东湖丽苑 · Shenzhen Municipal People's Government (Shenzhen Stories)
城市风景园林的典范：深圳仙湖植物园 · Shenzhen Municipal People's Government (Shenzhen Stories)
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-25.
Explore Luohu District
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Luohu District
The forested upper slopes of Wutong Mountain in Shenzhen, February 2022.Wutong Mountain梧桐山
Wutong Mountain rises beside the Luohu and Yantian districts and forms a sharp natural boundary to Shenzhen’s urban landscape. Big Wutong and Little Wutong are the principal named summits. The mountain is also the source area of…
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Stone pillars marking the entrance to Dongmen pedestrian street, Luohu District, Shenzhen · 深圳罗湖区东门步行街入口石柱 Source-recorded photograph date: 2008-04.Dongmen Old Street东门老街
Dongmen Old Street (东门老街) is the pedestrianised commercial quarter in Luohu District that grew out of the old Shenzhen market, the settlement from which the city took its name in 1979. It is the oldest shopping district in Shenzhen and still functions as one.
Read the place guide →
Lake Xian, the namesake lake of Fairylake Botanical Garden, Luohu District, Shenzhen · 深圳市罗湖区仙湖植物园内的仙湖 Source-recorded photograph date: 2016-06-09.Fairy Lake Botanical Garden仙湖植物园
Shenzhen botanical garden between Wutong Mountain and Shenzhen Reservoir, with 8,000-plus species, a cycad centre, a fossil forest and Hongfa Temple.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Luohu District is about 8 km in a straight line from central Shenzhen. Search for 罗湖区 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Wutong Mountain and Dongmen Old Street 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 罗湖区 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Wutong Mountain · Dinkun Chen · CC BY-SA 4.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP without cropping, retouching or changing the photographed subject.
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Photo: Dongmen Old Street · Chintunglee · 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: Fairy Lake Botanical Garden · Huangdan2060 · CC BY 3.0. 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.