Today we are going to bring you to spend 24 hours with us in one of the most futuristic cities in China and we are going to challenge ourselves to experience the most technological things that this city has to offer us. Good morning, guys. Now we're in Xinzem, the first city here on our adventure through China, and it's considered one of the most futuristic cities in the world.
That's it. And our mission for the next 24 hours is to discover and enjoy the most futuristic things about this city and show it to you in this video. In just 40 years, the city we are in now has transformed from a fishing village of 30,000 inhabitants to a mega city where 13 million people live.
And here the future stopped being a promise and became a reality. In this video we will get to know the most technological city in China with one objective: to test the most surreal innovations that exist and are part of the daily lives of the people who live here. Here, drones make deliveries, palms work like cards, robots bring your food to the restaurant and driverless cars take you home as if they were the most normal thing in the world.
But, on the other side of the coin, to support this entire cyberpunk scenario, working hours known as 996 — from 9 in the morning to 9 at night, six days a week — are like a frantic race for success. This one is Shenzhen, the Chinese Silicon Valley. And, in this video, we will discover what it is like to live where the future has already arrived.
Well, now we're going to the technological center of this city. I think it's the biggest area, and the most shocking. We haven't been there yet.
And, to go there, we will take the subway. And to go on the subway you have to go through strict security. We have to take the body through the x-ray, put the bags through the x-ray.
And he saw that there was a bottle of water in our backpack and looked at the water material. Look how crazy. And, to take the subway here, just use Alipay.
I think we already showed this in the last video, right? This is very practical. Oh, we're going to go here.
. . and it opened.
Since we arrived here in Shenzhen, we noticed how technological the subways here are. They are super fast, they come one after the other. You can see how full each carriage is from the small screen there.
I'll show you. And nine of the 10 longest subway lines in the world are here in China. So, the subway systems here are super complex, super integrated and super efficient.
Look, here for example you can see how many minutes the next train is coming and how full each carriage is. So, you can now position yourself in front of the car that is emptiest. And this one is the Shenzhen subway lines.
There are 14 lines, all integrated. Imagine a train like that in BH or São Paulo. It would greatly facilitate urban mobility.
And Alipay connects some bank to it. In this case, we connected Nôm, right, which is our global account that we use for everything. Since we left Brazil, we have always used it in all countries and here it is no different.
But here we are using it in a, you know, different way, which is by registering it on Alipay. That's it, guys. As Sofia was saying, we can pay very easily using the Nôm card here in China too.
Even though it is a country that has some restrictions, we just register here on Alipay, which is the official Chinese payment application, and we can make the payment using the Nôm card without any problems. For those who don't know, Nôm is a global account accepted in more than 180 countries. And we've been using Nôm since we left for this trip, it's been almost 2 years.
And it is the most economical way we have found to convert currencies. It's very simple to create your account. There is no membership fee, there is no account creation fee.
So, basically, you download the application with the QR Code that is here on the screen and you can go there and create your account and you can now make your international payments. And the way to send money there is even simpler. It's simply with Pix and that's it.
It's already in dollars and you can continue making international purchases, making withdrawals, which is what we do a lot too. Nôm also has the function of making investments in dollars. And now they have the news, which is the Explorer credit card, which offers several advantages.
For example, VIP lounge, miles so you can get discounts on airline tickets. . .
It's really worth taking a look. Then scan the QR Code that is here on the screen and don't forget to use the blue dot coupon to get up to 20% cashback, which is giving you around R$100 nowadays on your first transaction. I'm scared.
We just left the subway station and we came across giant drones in the air. Guys, how scary! Look at this.
There are two drones. Look. Oh my God.
Oh, wow, how crazy, huh? Oh, guys, this drone must be this big, like this, look. Like that.
Damn, old man. Oh, I'm getting scared. I'm liking this.
We are going here to investigate the origin of these drones live. Another drone. Another drone.
Two more drones. How crazy. And they are huge.
They are very big. 1, 2, 3, 4. In this field of view alone there are five drones flying here.
And apparently they come from the same place. Is it that little house over there? Look down here.
Look at the giant. He's going to hit the girl in the head! Look at the size of it.
Ah, this is where they come from, love. My God, I didn't expect that. Look how crazy.
Oh, it's going to come out here now. There there there there. Yeah, we are, see, son?
Oh, oh the animal. And back there, look, there's a battery station, like a refrigerator, where he changes the drone batteries. The drone arrives, it takes out the battery, puts the new battery in and puts the old one back in the battery station.
And coming back. And, old man, the drones keep coming and going. Old man, like, it's a job.
They are working. Lots of manual work. Constant, constant work.
No, seriously, old man. We just arrived in the center of this city and we already came across this. I'm even scared about what we're going to experience here today, right?
So, there were our plans for today. We order an order for the drone, it arrives, we eat and that's it. It will still happen.
Wait. But I found it very surprising to have seen where they come from. Well, behind the scenes of drones.
We already started the video this way. This is very crazy. And this region that we arrived here, which is like the technological center of the city, has more buildings that are even super tall than there were close to home.
This city here, 30 years ago, was a fishing village. Both this city here and China as a whole have had the most accelerated urban transformation in history. And it's really crazy to stop and think about how this economic miracle happened here in China.
Because China is communist, but it has a slightly different communism. What happened? Back in 78, Mao Tse-tung, who was the greatest communist leader here, left power.
Then a guy called Deng Xiaoping came in. And this was the key guy to make all of what China is today happen. When Mao Tse-tung was in power, China had a lot of control.
China controlled society, economy and politics. But, after Mao left power and Deng Xiaoping came in, this guy wanted to open up the economy. He said that he didn't need to dictate all the rules of the country's economy there.
And then he opened the economy so that there would be foreign investment here in the country and several industries, several companies could come. This was the great Chinese turning point. And within this story there were also other details that were revolutionary for China to get to where it is, which we will tell you about in a little while.
The Chinese economic model brought foreign companies here to China and, in return, they received technology and information and offered cheap labor. And, in this city here, in addition to Tencent, which is one of the most important technology companies in the world, there is also Foxconn, which is responsible for producing iPhones for the entire world. Practically every electronic item you use today has had some connection to this city.
Your cell phone, drone or even the game you play may have had a hand in Shenzhen. But Shenzhen no longer lives just by manufacturing hardware. Now she also creates.
Companies like DeepSeek are developing artificial intelligence as powerful as OpenAI's. And that changes everything, because for the first time in history, Silicon Valley is being challenged. Innovation is no longer a monopoly of the West and Shenzhen is right at the center of this turnaround.
But what is most impressive is that, until recently, this city was totally different. This transformation was engineered. In 1980, President Deng Xiaoping declared this region as China's first special economic zone.
A bold experiment, a kind of mix between capitalism and communism. And, well, the result is what we are seeing today. So let's go to the first test of our technological mission: payment with the palm of your hand.
We just went into 7-Eleven to buy something to eat and here we saw that we could pay by hand. So I translated the message here on Google Translate, I asked the girl there for help. "Hey girl, how do I register my hand here?
" She said: "Just put your hand in and register via chat", which is their WhatsApp here in China. Sofia went there and registered her. Now let's test making our payment.
Let's test it. I only believe by seeing. I still don't believe it.
So I caught some nonsense here. Let's go then. How is it?
You pass the barcode here . Yes, now it's helping. He's a random guy.
He doesn't work here. There is? There is?
That's cool, old man. Paid. Only in the future, right?
How crazy. The cell phone vibrated immediately. If you forget your wallet and cell phone, you can come pay by hand.
You don't need to worry. Bye Bye. Bye Bye.
It's OK. I got this here that was like little eggs that were like in an egg carton, but it's like a cupcake. They have purple.
Look how cute. And this here looks like cheese bread. I don't know.
Cheese bread, no, right? Cheese bread. Cheese bread.
Let's try it. Let's go. Take your egg.
This crazy palm payment system is called Wenchin Payment. It was developed by Tencent itself. It uses infrared cameras to detect not just handprints, but unique vein patterns on the skin.
And it's practically impossible to fake. Do you know why? Even identical twins have different vein patterns.
And the crazy thing is that we didn't make this payment at a special store. It was a random 7. And we saw this little machine to pay with your hand in several stores throughout the city.
For residents of Shenzhen, paying by hand is now routine. Guys, after we ate, we decided that we are going to have a coffee and this coffee will be delivered here by drone. But we still don't know how to do this, so we're going to follow the drones that are in the sky.
We already got our vehicle here. We got it using the Alipay app. And now let's hunt for drones.
It's because like this, the food and delivery apps are all in Chinese. It's a total complication, the translation is strange, we can't figure out how to get this drone food thing. So let's go hunting for them on your bike.
Let's find out. There. So, where's the drone?
So far it's not happening yet. There you go. There you go.
Oh, there's a drone passing over there, huh. It's going there. It's going there.
Let's go. We saw the drone descending inside this park. We even tried to get into it with our bike, but the security guard just said that he would park it here.
So we're parking and we're going to find it. Let's find it. Let's place our drone order.
Yeah, how do you turn this thing off? I don't know. I think you have to.
. . maybe you have to read something again there.
Let's see. I'm. .
. I have no idea. First time we took a bike here.
I think it was like R$1 a day, guys. I think it cost R$1. 80.
Oh, she said. Did you hear? Did you hear her talking to us?
I think it was. He was. It locked.
It locked. Beauty. My turn.
Look at him there. Our order has arrived. It's coming.
It's coming. Landed. So, we receive a code so we can get our food, our drink.
Ours is 291, right? 291. That's the code.
Oh my God, there's something going on here. Oh my God, you are so crazy. Will the liquid be spilled?
I don't know. I don't think so. It's so tidy.
Oh, you're leaving. Bye, old man. Look at this here.
Oh my God, how scary. I think it closed. Or maybe it came in a box like you could put a computer in there, so big, right?
He opens the little house, the drone arrives, he closes the little house. Then I think we have to return this packaging, right? What goes through the box?
Look, it's a messy box. Look, it's Velcro. Oh, like, this isn't something to throw away.
There are some iron businesses. Damn, old man, this box is really good. And then the actual request is this, look.
And the box is reused. Look. Let's see what it 's like here, huh?
Ah, you take it apart and put it back. Right. Damn, this is so chic.
Very chic. So, oh, oh, oh. .
. there, that's it. And here is our order.
The order is here, which came by drone. Time of truth. Let's see if it came spilled, if it spilled or not, huh?
Look, guys, it's a thermal bag. Wow, wow, but this bag, we can even keep it. Does it have to be.
. . ?
Look at this. It's warm in here. I don't know.
Look how chic. Good capon to take on a trip, old man. There's a little bit here, look.
Warm. Two straws. This here, oh, so he can stay firm.
And here in Asia, you know, these balls under the liquid are very common. It's like a ball of jelly. Then it comes with the end of the straw, you come and pierce it.
Ah, the film punctured quickly. Hey, I thought this was chic, huh? The acorns.
We made this order here on an app called Meu Onean, which is like a Chinese iFood, which is what people use most for delivery. It's funny, right? Because while in Brazil people ship by motorcycle courier, by cyclist, even by Uber, sometimes even by car, here shipments are already being made by air.
Like, there’s no traffic, there’s no congestion. Since 2021, technology giant Mate, with iFood here, has been making drone deliveries in the city with more than 30 active routes. These drones deliver meals, medicine and even jewelry.
Delivery is super fast, guys. It can last less than 10 minutes. As of 2023, Shenzhen has recorded more than 600,000 drone flights and is considered the leading city in the new area called "low-altitude economy.
" Oh, we are taking advantage of this moment that we are taking a little something here to take photos of paper. Look how cool this one is, guys. Look at this from here.
That's a drone photo. Look, giant. What a lot.
And then there in Hong Kong, when we were at the house where we were doing house sitting, I ordered it on Amazon. I saw this on the internet, I thought it was really cool. Look how massive it is.
I'm going to take a photo of those buildings there. Burn the paper. Oh, it's a specific type of impression, you know?
Tax note . When are you going to buy something and such. It's a print that doesn't use ink.
It's an impression that only burns the paper, it marks the paper. So there is no paint involved. On Amazon it even says it's a toy, like that.
What a 10 year old can use, but it's a really cool toy. Here in this city, they speak Mandarin, because there are some cities here in China where they don't speak Mandarin, right? And here, thank you is "xchê" and hi is.
. . yeah.
. . Every country we go to, we try to learn the basic words as soon as we arrive.
And these are the two that we have learned so far. I'm also trying to learn about "how much it costs", which I think is "goofy", something like that. It's just that they don't really speak any English.
Like, Vietnam, Thailand. . .
most, I think almost all the countries we've been to, when we say "how much", they understand, you know? And here they don't understand. So we always have to use Google Translate here.
Well, and a lunch that we saw earlier was a lunch that is like a hot pot, the one we ate in Vietnam, except that the things you put in your soup go through a conveyor belt. We've seen this in some videos from Japan and didn't know it was here. And we never had that experience.
So let's eat there. I think it will be cool. That's it.
And let's try another Chinese technology now at lunch. Oh, my God, I don't understand anything. Guys, we arrived at the restaurant next.
Here is a pan, a stove. Look, it increases, the temperature is increasing. We ordered it here, it's like a la, like we ate there in Vietnam.
It's a soup kitchen. So this soup will start to be heated and arrive in a conveyor belt of several things. You can pick things up.
Oh, there are noodles, tofu, sausage, vegetables. Do you think it's squid or octopus, I don't know. It has everything.
Look how cool it is. It's a treadmill. Like, there are several rows and the conveyor belt passes through everything.
Look there. She takes another turn here. Oh, okay.
She said to show the ice cream here, look. And then there are the seasonings. She also said through the translator that this is all free.
We can use as much as we want. Eduardo, how do you ask where the fork is? The "rash"?
Oh, it's here. Look how cool. Wow, two of these here.
We've never been to a restaurant like this, in the mall. Guys, is this a very futuristic way of eating or not? You basically arrive, scan the QR Code, someone will bring you your pan and you will serve yourself.
You choose the things you want to eat. And the boy there who was helping us also brought, I think it's some kind of bib, I don't know, so he doesn't get his clothes dirty. I don't know how it works.
Oh, this is important, oh. We like it here. Oh, are we catching too much?
Leaf, noodle, quail egg. I think this is tofu. I have no idea.
Leaves, bread, more eggs, mushrooms, more noodles. And Eduardo is making a joke here. Not here, he was the one who gave me the instructions.
I'm just following orders. And then I'm here, oh, clean do clean. Like, we needed help because we never had this experience before.
But a Chinese would arrive here and have no contact with absolutely anyone. You arrive, scan the QR Code, pay, use everything here, in the drawer. Get what you need, control the temperature.
If you need to talk to someone, there's a button you press and the person will respond here. Look how crazy. Very crazy.
And this one, Eduardo, looks like a brain. Ah, that's definitely brain, right? For sure.
This is brain. Brain flower. How delicious, huh?
Fish, love. Flower is crab roe, black tiger shrimp. That's what translates.
Guys, here in China we realized that cell phone addiction is huge. People are playing games, watching series, walking down the street and playing on their cell phones, playing through the lights. While you're driving, manners.
. . well, it's crazy.
And then, up here we have several cell phone holders for people to place and watch or use their cell phones while eating. So, you come here and watch TikTok while you eat. It's at that level.
But there's no TikTok here. This is a curiosity that we discovered a few days ago. We were surprised.
How did I find out? I tried accessing TikTok at another time on the same day. I tried accessing Shein.
Both don't work here. You know that TikTok and Shein are Chinese, right? And here we already knew that we would have to use a VPN to access YouTube, Instagram, everything we use outside of China.
But I thought TikTok wouldn't need it. I was wrong. I couldn't access it.
China creates two versions. Even the names are different, Yes, my friends, we are now officially full. Another interesting thing that Sofia was mentioning about Shein: here you can buy things that arrive in 30 minutes.
Clothes, electronics, cell phones. . .
cell phones, watches. . .
everything extremely fast. It's almost like an AliExpress or Shopee that arrives in 30 minutes. Crazy thing.
And if the aim of the video is to experience the craziest technologies that China has, now let's move on to the strangest and most exciting, which is most likely to put our lives at risk: a driverless car. Fully artificial intelligence. Look where AI has come, my friends.
We're going to get a fully autonomous car, like an Uber. It's very crazy. There are some cities that can do this, and Shenzhen is one of them.
A few years ago, There was talk that a product from China was trash. Look where they got to. China got here because it was smart.
When it opened its economy, it said to companies: "Do you want to sell here? Produce here and share your experience. " They accepted.
But China had a plan: copy, improve and surpass. This connects with Confucian philosophy. Copying the master is not frowned upon.
They have a saying: "It can be a black cat or a white cat, the important thing is to catch mice. " Today, China is a reference in technology. DJI, Huawei.
. . and now DeepSeek, which is a more efficient AI than ChatGPT.
DeepSeek solves problems in a cost-effective and technological way. And an example of this is what we are going to try: the autonomous car. We are in a region that allows it.
I already have the app in hand. I'm going to stop here in the shade, at the bus stop. It's hot.
Look at all the skyscrapers. It's always building. I accept the terms.
You cannot sit in the front seat, nor go with a child or pregnant woman. Maximum three passengers. Let's go.
Oh my God, guys, we ordered the autonomous taxi. Does it come quickly? Where are they?
We spent more than half an hour trying. It didn't happen this time. I did everything right, but it didn't work.
We've seen creators do it. Here we show the real. Let's try in other cities.
If you haven't subscribed to the channel, subscribe. Let's test this! In August 2022, Shenzhen was the first to authorize driverless vehicles.
They serve more than 4 million people. Autonomous driving is already in big cities. Unfortunately, we didn't make it this time, but there will be other opportunities.
We walked a little and arrived in an old part, without skyscrapers. Lots of electrical wires, narrow streets and family businesses. This region does not have autonomous cars, drones, or payment by hand.
Just people living the way they always lived. And behind the technological spectacle, there is the harsh reality: excessive work. Like in Japan, here people work hours a day.
There is the 996 system: 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. Very difficult days. Look how crazy this DJI store is.
This is very futuristic. Let's go inside. Let's take a look.
There's everything while it's a drone here, people. Oh, this one is. .
. And this one is just like us, our little baby. Damn, there are some giant drones there.
Let's see. Oh the size of this little baby. Sofia has already been there to see the giant drones.
Look at this, guys. All very complicated recording equipment, something I've never seen in my life. That it.
Just look. This is a delivery drone that weighs 30 kg, look. Old man, look at the size of this drone.
Look at this. Oh my god, bro. Look at the size of this drone.
I think there's a bigger one here. Oh, oh, this one I think is something for fire. Oh, there's a water reservoir.
Wow, how crazy. Where have we arrived, my friends? Where have we arrived?
That's crazy, old man. Look here, all the disassembled parts of a giant drone. My God, it's the future.
And an interesting thing is that DJI is a Chinese brand. And not just that. DJI is a brand here in Shenzhen.
She was created here in Shenzhen, which is the most technological city in China. It's like the Chinese Silicon Valley. It's a brand responsible for more than 70% of drones worldwide and it came from here, where we are.
And this store here is like a DJI temple, you know? It's like it's all themed. It's all beautiful.
It has several models. Something I've never seen in my life. It's really shocking.
Who likes drones, this is a place like that. . .
wow, it's really cool to know the possibilities, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. .
. I feel like I'm in the future. It's too much, old man.
Too much. And look how cool, guys. Here on the second floor there is an exhibition of old cameras.
Look, like, this was the camera that took these photos, look. He played the Beatles, David Bowie, a girl there who I don't know who she is. Look how cool, guys.
The history of cameras, you know? And everything in English and Mandarin, also Chinese. This was the camera that the guy who went to space, the first and only man who stepped into space, took.
Look how crazy. Here, in his hand, this one. Too much.
And, guys, even here at the DJI store, this is a robot for fire. He has a camera. It is fully automatic.
If a fire breaks out here, he will know where to aim to automatically spray water. Go up the stairs, the big robot there. How crazy, guys.
Do you see that there? I'm thinking that's a pizza delivery robot. As dinner time is approaching, the day is coming to an end and this video is 24 hours a day with you experiencing the greatest technologies in China, I think a delivery robot cannot be missing.
I don't think so. He's there waiting, look. Will we go there?
It's a Pizza Hut. Oh, it's a Pizza Hut. I found it interesting.
I think that's it. Let's ask if that's it. Come on, let's go.
I want to receive pizza from the robot. Okay. I know what she's talking about.
Oh there. I think she's saying there's plenty of water and tea there. Okay, water and tea.
She, I think she's telling us. So here, now, we will scan the QR Code that is here on the table and order the pizza via cell phone. And a drone will come and deliver us.
A robot, right, love? A little robot will come and deliver it to us. Again, everything automatic.
We scanned it here. There you already have access to the menu. And access to the menu, we can now choose what we want and go to the payment page, which is like a Pix.
We chose a pizza here for 89 yuan. And soon, the robot will bring it. It's a cheese pizza, stuffed on the edge.
Stuffed edge. Guys, the robot is coming. The robot is coming to deliver the pizza.
You know it's here, people. Oh my God. Look at him coming cute, guys.
How does he know it's us? It will catch up. And how scary.
Will I get it? Look at him. How scary.
Thanks, little robot. Thanks. So, are you going to have a bite to eat with us?
What catches? How does he know if I already got it? Do I have to press a button up there?
I want to see it up close too. I got it, sir. I think it was.
. . oh, there's a seconds count here, look.
Oh, how cute. He sent a kiss. Bye, little robot.
This is his face, guys. My God. Goodbye.
How cute. Now let's eat the pizza. It arrived.
Hey, my friends, we crushed this pizza there. We were hungry. But, well, today was a really cool day.
Recording this video was really cool because we were able to have, I don't know, a glimpse of what the technologies of the future will be like, right? We saw a lot of things we had never seen before. Something that looks like a movie.
It's like living in 2010. Like, it was actually really fun to make this video. What surprised you most today?
Ah, I think the drone. Yeah, I think the drone. There was a moment when I saw the drone walking from above, two walking in a straight line.
I said: "Man, just like a flying car movie. " AND. I really want to live the unmanned car experience.
I think this will also be very striking, you know? It will happen. We make a point of making this event happen.
But that's it. The video is coming to an end. I hope you also enjoyed these technological experiences here in China.
And we'll see you in the next episode. This adventure in China is just beginning. That's it!
