Kim Dae-soon

MY typical day in Futian starts with getting up at 6:40 a.m. and hunting for fresh vegetables and fruits from street vendors.

After having breakfast — usually rice, a morning food for many Koreans — my eldest daughter leaves home for school at around 7:30 a.m., followed by my youngest daughter, who goes to kindergarten at 8:30 a.m. My husband, who works in Shenzhen’s northern neighbor Dongguan, heads off for work shortly after. Almost at the same time, I start a day’s work at my company, which is just a five-minute walk from my home. Then my mother-in-law takes a leisurely trip to a farm produce market as a way of doing morning exercise.

So, our family’s home is empty by 9 a.m. with all members heading for different locations. When we reunite at around 7 p.m. for dinner, we share the happiness and frustration we experienced — and the achievements we made — during the day.

This is a typical day for my 12 years in Shenzhen. It may seem bland and repetitive, but each day brings us novel experiences and growth. I expect such routines will continue in our future lives here, seemingly ordinary yet fruitful.

In 2001, my husband and I said good-bye to South Korea and moved to Shenzhen shortly after we married. Now I’m a mother of two, a wife who takes care of the family and a businesswoman who has staff members sharing hardship and success with me. Of course, over the years I’ve also made a lot of Chinese friends who have brought me many fond memories.

I recently became a member of Futian’s expatriate volunteer team. I feel more responsibility for this city, in such a way that I can’t help stomping forward for action when I see someone discarding a cigarette butt on the street. Once I decided to educate a man who was dropping a cigarette butt near my office building, only to find I was confronting a burly man with a formidable look. I then backed down from an intended tough talk, softly persuading him to pick up the butt. It is one of the many interesting episodes in my service as an expat volunteer, and reminds me of how much I love this city. I wish more expatriates would join the volunteer team to make our community a better home.

Xiangmihu, a.k.a. Honey Lake, where I live, is at the center of Shenzhen and has easy access to transportation infrastructure that takes people to the Shenzhen airport, Guangzhou, Dongguan and other cities conveniently. The numerous lush apartment and office buildings, as well as those sleek financial towers along Shennan Boulevard, make Xiangmihu a modern, safe and cozy community that a large number of expatriates call home.

It is such a beautiful place that I sometimes wonder why the city does not stage international exhibitions here to showcase the culture of Shenzhen and China at large to foreigners, and display the world’s diverse culture to the Chinese people.

Nonetheless, the biggest reason for my love of Xiangmihu lies in the fact that a large number of Korean restaurants and supermarkets make my life here so easy that I don’t feel homesick.

I know no city can be perfect. For Shenzhen, the challenge seems to be the fact that the city is not as well-known abroad as in China. Several years ago, I attended a conference in New York. Most people there were at a loss when I told them I was from Shenzhen. Since then I’ve been reckoning what can be done to let more foreigners know about the city and see its beauty. I think this is not just my question, but one for every Shenzhen resident.

Kim Dae-soon, vice chairman of the South Korean Chamber of Commerce in Shenzhen, has made great efforts to enhance the friendly relationship between China and South Korea during the 12 years she has been living in Shenzhen.