Just a 4-hour flight from Malaysia and we found ourselves in Shenzhen, a city that looks straight out of the future. Skyscrapers everywhere, everything moving fast, and technology at every corner. From 24–28 November, I travelled there together with 20 students from the BIOMEHS Club for an academic and industrial visit to Peking University Shenzhen. This trip was our chance to learn, explore, and see how research is done in a different part of the world.

PKU Shenzhen mainly focuses on postgraduate studies, and being surrounded by such a strong research atmosphere definitely motivated our students. One of our main activities was a 3D modelling workshop with PKU students where everyone got to share skills and ideas, and it was nice to see them working together so quickly even though they had just met. We also attended a lecture by a professor who explained how to design a strong research project. That was very useful especially for students preparing their final year work.

We had the chance to tour research facilities like Shenzhen Bay Laboratory. The tools and ongoing research there gave us a better picture of how far scientific work has grown in China. Our industrial visits took us to Salubris, a pharmaceutical company focusing on R&D, and the Pingshan Translational Medicine Center, which supports start-ups to bring medical ideas into real applications.

One of the most exciting places we visited was Huaqiangbei, the largest electronics and tech market in Shenzhen. You name it, they have it. Tiny components like capacitors, robotics parts, phones, smartwatches and even giant drones. The students spending their own pocket money here like no tomorrow while exploring and checking every corner of the market. And of course, the food in Shenzhen was nothing short of fabulous from beef noodles to tasty grilled lamb skewers, we definitely enjoyed every meal we had there.

The whole trip was a great learning experience outside the classroom. The students gained new exposure, made new friends, and hopefully came back with fresh motivation to grow in their own careers. Thank you to Peking University Shenzhen for the warm welcome throughout our stay. We truly appreciate the hospitality and hope this will be the start of more collaborations in the future.

Xièxiè, Shenzhen!