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2026 Shenzhen International Audio Show SIAS
- Thread starter amirm
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baseball caps, all kinds of hats, AND full face masks (for sun protection) -- I always wondered how they manage those face masks. I only do sunglasses myself, unfortunately.OT:
Not to be confused with "surveillance capitalists", at home and elsewhere in the world.
I wonder if wearing a baseball cap (in public) would be allowed in China?
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If I were going to Beijing, I'd want to check out the 798 art district for sure.
Someone I know also made an annual trek to buy tea, though he mentioned that the good stuff wasn't cheap.
I recall being served roast suckling pig, which was very tasty, accompanied by a deceptively mild clear liquor (baiju?) which reminded me a bit of Chamisul Fresh soju, in the sense that it goes down smooth as water. Alcohol normally doesn't agree with me, but for whatever reason, the combination of rich food and baiju agreed with me very much!
With more time, I might've liked to explore the city's noodle and dumpling culture. Am told that cuisine of these more northerly regions were traditionally based more on wheat, rather than rice, as in the Canton region. Steamed bao seemed ubiquitous even in Xinjiang, though it wasn't until we got further south that they were filled with anything.
Not surprisingly, Cantonese cuisine seemed more familiar to me as earlier waves of Chinese immigrants to the USA originally came from the region. But way more generous in certain ingredients because they're more affordable in China, like mushrooms/fungus and shrimp.
Someone I know also made an annual trek to buy tea, though he mentioned that the good stuff wasn't cheap.
I recall being served roast suckling pig, which was very tasty, accompanied by a deceptively mild clear liquor (baiju?) which reminded me a bit of Chamisul Fresh soju, in the sense that it goes down smooth as water. Alcohol normally doesn't agree with me, but for whatever reason, the combination of rich food and baiju agreed with me very much!
With more time, I might've liked to explore the city's noodle and dumpling culture. Am told that cuisine of these more northerly regions were traditionally based more on wheat, rather than rice, as in the Canton region. Steamed bao seemed ubiquitous even in Xinjiang, though it wasn't until we got further south that they were filled with anything.
Not surprisingly, Cantonese cuisine seemed more familiar to me as earlier waves of Chinese immigrants to the USA originally came from the region. But way more generous in certain ingredients because they're more affordable in China, like mushrooms/fungus and shrimp.
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Is it Sovox?One does actually.
OP
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- #106
No, it is a different company but they may have one as well.
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Hi, yes, our booth is B08
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Hi Amirm, Really glad to hear you’ll be coming to the 2026 Shenzhen International Audio Show (SIAS)! Wishing you a smooth and enjoyable trip to China. Looking forward to seeing you here in Shenzhen and hopefully having the chance to say hello in person. Safe travels!
I was going to write this directly to Amir, but thought others coming to China for the show may benefit from this if they’re also planning to visit Beijing. For context, I write this as a Canadian that has lived in Beijing for 13 years; here’s what I suggest a tourist to do in this amazing (but huge) city. I’ve included images from my blog to give a sense of what to expect.
There are four dimensions to Beijing that make it special:
1: Historic Sites (The Classics & Beyond)
2: Photography Sites (Framing the City)
3: Food (From Duck to Street Eats)
4: Exceptional People (Nice and Direct)
Final Thoughts
Links to More Photos and Info
There are four dimensions to Beijing that make it special:
1: Historic Sites (The Classics & Beyond)
- The Forbidden City & Jingshan Park: Walk the south-to-north central axis through the Imperial Palace. Once you exit the northern gate (Gate of Divine Prowess), head directly across the street into Jingshan Park. Climb Wanchun Pavilion at the top of the hill for an unmatched panorama over the golden rooftops of the palace grounds. Sunset is the best time to go.
- Temple of Heaven: Go early in the morning (around 7:30 AM). The architecture of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is incredible, but the real highlight is watching local retirees practice tai chi, play shuttlecock (jianzi), and sing opera under the ancient pines.
- Mutianyu Great Wall or Jingshanling: Skip Badaling (it’s heavily crowded). Mutianyu offers restored wall sections, fewer crowds, cable cars, and a toboggan ride down the mountain. Jinshanling is my personal favourite with a night stay in Gubei Water Town. There’s something magical about seeing the sunrise from the Great Wall of China.
2: Photography Sites (Framing the City)
- Northwest Turret of the Forbidden City: Standing at the moat corner just outside the palace wall gives you a perfect reflection shot of the wooden turret, especially during blue hour or sunset.
- 798 Art District: A massive decommissioned 1950s military factory complex transformed into contemporary art galleries, industrial installations, street art, and modern architectural angles. There are other art districts attached to this including 751 and D Park, all surrounding 798. 798 is worth a day, including hanging out in its many coffee shops and then dinner in its many great restaurants.
- CBD Skyline from Guomao Bridge: For architectural contrasts between old and new, set up near the central business district to frame the iconic CCTV Tower ("Big Pants") alongside modern skyscrapers. I’d recommend walking along GuanghuoLu and seeing the CCTV Tower up close and personal, or go into Guomao Sanqi (China World Mall) and having a drink at Blue Frog or the other restaurants at sunset to see the CCTV Tower from an elevated location. There’s a balcony there that is open to the public and has DJs playing music on Saturday nights.
- Wudaoying Hutong: Less commercialized than Nanluoguxiang. Great leading lines through gray-brick alleyways, red doorways, vintage cafes, and stray hutong cats. I’d highly recommend visiting a set of Hutongs around Beijing including Wudaoying (there’s an amazing 3-star Michelin vegetarian restaurant there called King’s Joy) and also Qianmen. In Qianmen area, there’s a large walking street, which we will avoid as it’s filled with tourists, and instead focus on the smaller side streets where you’ll find gems like Voyage Coffee or Metal Hands. Soloist Coffee has a nice rooftop to look over the nearby Hutongs. It’s best to walk around this area at sunset for the best lighting. Feel free to socialize with the many locals that live in these four-plex courtyard homes.
- Sanlitun: This is the nightlife hub of the city and a great place to soak in Beijing’s consumption patterns. You’ll see young and old partying in the nearby Gongti area, shoppers splurging in Sanlitun South and dropping big money in Sanlitun North. Beijing just got their first flagship Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Dior buildings in the north side. You’ll witness a strange dynamic as there will be dozens of older men with large cameras taking photos of women. Women dress up to be caught by these “paparazzi”. They then upload the images to photo sharing, Xiaohongshu and AI sites for money.
- Daxing Airport: A strange one to include here, but it’s truly a stunning piece of architecture from Zaha Hadid. It’s very far from the city (1-1.5 hours), but worth choosing as your departure or arrival airport if given the choice. Suggest going early as there are dozens of interesting angles to capture this glorious structure.
3: Food (From Duck to Street Eats)
- Poetry+Wine: There’s a local group of restaurants of which Poetry+Wine is one. The entire group’s restaurants are excellent. Poetry+Wine has a cross section of Chinese food, whereas their other restaurants are more focused like their Beijing Hotpot chain. Highly recommend their restaurants; for most visitors, I take them to the Poetry+Wine at Solana or their original location in Shuangjing.
- Peking Duck: Skip the ultra-touristy chains. Siji Minfu (四季民福) offers crisp skin, traditional pancakes, and great views if you catch a window table near the Forbidden City moat. Dip the crispy skin in a bit of granulated sugar—trust me on this.
- Zhajiangmian (Fried Paste Noodles): Head to a neighborhood joint like No. 69 Fangzhuangchang. Chewy hand-pulled noodles mixed with savory soybean paste, diced pork, fresh cucumber strips, and radishes.
- Niujie Halal Food Street: The spot for street food. Grab fresh lamb skewers dusted in cumin and chili, tanghulu (candied hawthorn on a stick), and warm sesame shaobing.
- Ghost Street (Guijie): The place to be when everything else is closed. This 24/7 street is filled with beautiful lanterns that glow until sunrise. Famous for Spicy Crayfish (Málà Xiǎolóngxiā / 麻辣小龙虾). Known locally as málóng, spicy crayfish cooked in Sichuan peppercorns, garlic, and chili is the signature dish of the street. You can also find traditional Beijing & Sichuan Hot Pot and Spicy Grilled Fish and BBQ skewers everywhere. I personally go there for the grilled fish.
4: Exceptional People (Nice and Direct)
- Park Life & Public Spaces: Parks like Temple of Heaven, Beihai, or Ritan are open-air community centers. Showing genuine interest in a game of xiangqi (Chinese chess) or just saying hi to random people often leads to warm gestures and simple conversations.
- Hutong Teahouses & Craft Beer Bars: Areas around Gulou (Drum Tower) and Shichahai have intimate venues (like Great Leap Brewing or local teahouses). The crowd is a mix of young locals, expats, and travelers.
- Translation Apps: Download WeChat and a reliable translation app (like Baidu Translate) before arriving. Beijingers are exceptionally helpful; if you look lost or are trying to order food, locals will often step in without asking and use translation apps on their phones to help you out.
Final Thoughts
- My personal favourite activities in the city are to rent an Alipay or Didi bicycle and ride around the Hutongs or along Chang’an Avenue. From Jianguomen to Fuxingmen bridges, E-bikes are not allowed in the bike lanes, which makes for a very peaceful and lovely ride. Suggest going right before sunset so you can see the Palace Museum and the National Centre for the Performing Arts buildings as the sun sets. Please note that you cannot stop near major historic buildings, but you can ride slowly enough to capture some video memories.
- Beijing is a massive city and traffic can be downright awful. Assume even the shortest trip will take 20 mins and you’ll likely be ok. The subway is clean and efficient but doesn’t always get you to where you need to be. Maps online look like things are near, but in reality, the scale of blocks in Beijing are much larger than most cities. A block can take 15 minutes to walk in the centre of the city.
- E-Bikes will be the death of me. At some point, I’m going to get run over by one. Be super careful of these little silent demons. They ride on sidewalks, roads, grass and anywhere where you’re standing.
- Suggest bringing your passport with you everywhere as it’s often required to enter the central core of the city (Jingshan Park as an example) and is also how you’ll board high-speed trains (an insider’s tip, for foreign passports, the auto-readers often don’t work or are slow, so just go to the manual lane which will allow you to skip 90% of the crowd.
- Pre-load all the apps that others above recommended (WeChat, Alipay, Dianping, Didi, Baidu Translate are a must).
- Photography has become a bit weird since Covid. There are many places where security will ask you to stop taking photos, even though there’s nothing of secrecy there. Best is to abide by their request and move along. Plenty of other things to photograph.
- Make sure to engage with locals. The best part of Beijing is how friendly people are. For a city of 28 million people, it has to be the friendliest city, but you have to break through the initial barrier to see that warmth, kindness and generosity. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been invited by strangers to join them for drinks, meals and parties.
Links to More Photos and Info
- https://fcracer.com/city-walk-qianmen-yonghegong-beijing-china/
- https://fcracer.com/city-walk-langyuan-station-qianmen-beijing-china/
- https://fcracer.com/city-walk-798-art-district-beijing-china/
- https://fcracer.com/cycling-around-beijing-1/
- https://fcracer.com/cycling-around-beijing-2/
- https://fcracer.com/great-wall-of-china-at-mutianyu-beijing-china/
- https://fcracer.com/hutongs-at-qianmen-beijing-china/
- https://fcracer.com/hutongs-at-beiluo-guxiang-beijing-china/
- https://fcracer.com/daxing-airport-beijing-china/
- https://fcracer.com/jingshan-park-beijing-china/
OP
- Thread Starter
- #112
Boy, that is stunning photography and amazing write up! Wish I had more free time to experience all the place you mention.
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Hi Amirm,Welcome to the 2026 SIAS Shenzhen International Audio Show!
We'll be exhibiting at Booth A01 – we look forward to seeing you there.
We hope you enjoy your time in Shenzhen and have a wonderful experience at the event. Welcome to Shenzhen!
We'll be exhibiting at Booth A01 – we look forward to seeing you there.
We hope you enjoy your time in Shenzhen and have a wonderful experience at the event. Welcome to Shenzhen!
Thanks Amir. I hope you get the opportunity to enjoy the cities. I haven’t spent much time in Shenzhen, but I’m sure the local team there will show you some amazing places. The few times I was there, I enjoyed Coco Park a lot (fun vibe at night) and also the view from Lianhuashan where Deng Xiaoping’s statue is located.
More pics of Shenzhen
Hi Amirm,
Welcome to Shenzhen! You mentioned taking a van to Shenzhen—you can actually choose a Toyota Alphard with 5 or 6 passengers for a shared ride. It will take you directly to Shenzhen Bay Port or Huanggang Port, and you won’t need to get off the car for customs clearance throughout the journey. I highly recommend this option. After that, you can take a taxi to your booked hotel or to the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center.
I’d suggest setting up Alipay in advance, as Shenzhen largely uses electronic payments. You can also use Alipay to take the Shenzhen Metro.
Since you’ve already booked a business class ticket for the high-speed train to Beijing, I should mention that many locals in Shenzhen actually prefer flying to Beijing—it’s often cheaper than the train and faster too, as long as there are no flight delays. That said, the high-speed train is rarely delayed.
Wish you a pleasant journey!
Welcome to Shenzhen! You mentioned taking a van to Shenzhen—you can actually choose a Toyota Alphard with 5 or 6 passengers for a shared ride. It will take you directly to Shenzhen Bay Port or Huanggang Port, and you won’t need to get off the car for customs clearance throughout the journey. I highly recommend this option. After that, you can take a taxi to your booked hotel or to the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center.
I’d suggest setting up Alipay in advance, as Shenzhen largely uses electronic payments. You can also use Alipay to take the Shenzhen Metro.
Since you’ve already booked a business class ticket for the high-speed train to Beijing, I should mention that many locals in Shenzhen actually prefer flying to Beijing—it’s often cheaper than the train and faster too, as long as there are no flight delays. That said, the high-speed train is rarely delayed.
Wish you a pleasant journey!
syhooo
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As far as I know, both Topping and Moondrop have purchased Klippel NFS systems and use them in the development of their loudspeakers.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #118
thanks a bunch for the help. On this, I have set this up as well as wechat. Alipay process was long and rather dicey and had unexpected turns so I don't have high confidence that it works.
As far as shared ride, do you have to sit there and wait for others to show up or is it pretty quick? And once you get there, is it difficult to get a taxi? I have Didi downloaded but someone said in a video that it is very difficult to find your driver as a non-Chinese speaker person.
For the trip to Beijing, I once took the flight from Shanghai. It was a mad house with flight delays, confusion, etc. Was great that we had our area manager who could go and figure things out. He explained to us that the airline can basically do whatever they want as flights more akin to chatertered flight than what we are used to! I would have been lost without his help. that was 15 to 20 years ago though.
I have really enjoyed riding on Shinkansen in Japan and very much prefer it to flying there. But the longest ride was something like 3 hours. This train is 9+ hours so I am not so sure if it is a good idea or not.
Hello guys, I'm fairly new to niche-audio to the level of this forum (got M50X in 2017 because seemed popular; mostly stuck to that until I got HD600 few months back for home use).
I live in Hong Kong so planning to pop over for SIAS, let's see how it is! Any tips to not seem like a complete noob?
I live in Hong Kong so planning to pop over for SIAS, let's see how it is! Any tips to not seem like a complete noob?
Hi Amir, I don’t think it’s a good idea to take the train. There are frequent flights from SZ to BJ and it’s much quicker. I find the train stations much more challenging than airports. The Shenzhen airport is new and super nice. Highly recommend changing to a flight.
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