Shenzhen for five nights--help!

Shenzhen isn't really a tourist destination.
Are you going there from HK? If so, maybe you do not need a visa as you can get a 5-day visa at the border (only valid in Shenzhen).

I also wouldnt know what to do in Shenzhen for 5 days. Cheap(for hong kong) shopping, massage, spas only go so far.

There are some ammusement parks, but I am guessing your 18month old wont be too interested.

There are some parks, but I imagine you would find much better/less crowded in HK or further inland.
Fairy Lake Botanical Gardens is supposed to be the best urban park in the city.

We like adventure, and we're interested in seeing the countryside

And you booked 5 nights in one of China's largest and most modern cities?

So you are only staying in Shenzhen because you have a booking? You don't have to follow the itinerary that you gave to get your visa. Once you have it you can go anywhere. Surely the Hyatt will allow you to change your booking? Maybe they have hotels elsewhere that you can book instead.

Thanks for the responses. Violets, you just addressed my next question—what if we don’t go to Shenzhen (and go to Beijing instead, for example)? The Chinese authorities don’t track your accommodations through your visa/we wouldn’t need to report the change?

Thanks!

what if we don’t go to Shenzhen (and go to Beijing instead, for example)?

Then you go to Beijing and get to see one of China's great sights

The Chinese authorities don’t track your accommodations through your visa/we wouldn’t need to report the change?

No they dont. You do have to register wherever you stay or stay in approved hotels, but they dont track you against where you said you were going to stay in your visa.

You could have made bookings on something like Booking.com just to get the visa then cancelled for free. Didn't even have to be where you are actually going. Standard advise to anyone who asks before applying for the visa.

Shenzhen is a soulless city. There is nothing worth spending 5 days there for I wouldn't spend half as long there and I have numerous friends (Including 3 ex girlfriends) that live there now. There are, however, a few places within easy day-trip distance that might make it bearable (Kaiping/Guangzhou/etc).

When you say that you intend to go to Guangzhou after Shenzhen I assume that you mean that you have applied for and been granted an full tourist visa and you haven't just applied for that strange Shenzhen only visa. If that is the case; then you can now rip up the itinerary you gave the Chinese embassy and go where you like. I can't say for sure but I suspect doing the same would not be so simple with a Shenzhen only visa as there must be some sort of noticeable difference.

If you are in Hong Kong for a month before entering the Mainland, you can easily go to Macau from there and re-enter HK without an issue (Unless you hold one of a VERY small number of passports that restrict your HK access).

Shenzhen is a soulless city. There is nothing worth spending 5 days there for I wouldn't spend half as long there and I have numerous friends (Including 3 ex girlfriends) that live there now. ...

You don’t mean Shenzhen is good for dumping my girlfriends, 3 times?

Shenzhen is a soulless city. There is nothing worth spending 5 days there for I wouldn't spend half as long there and I have numerous friends (Including 3 ex girlfriends) that live there now. ...

You don’t mean Shenzhen is good for dumping my girlfriends, 3 times?

No. I mean that it's the place that women seem to want to go after they dump ME. :(