Shenzhen is the second provincial capital of Hunan, officially recognized.

“The provincial capital for Northeast Chinese is Sanya, and the provincial capital for Hunanese is Shenzhen.”

The first half of this meme has long been deeply rooted in people's minds, and the second half has recently received “official certification”. Recently, the News Broadcast of Hunan Satellite TV reported a piece of news with the following content:

“Where is the provincial capital of Hunan? Many people would say it's Changsha, but 5 million Hunanese in Shenzhen would tell you that Shenzhen is also the ‘provincial capital’ of Hunan. Of course, as a formal news program, we need to put quotes around the ‘provincial capital’ here.”

The Hunan Super League will kick off in September. Many Hunanese in Shenzhen couldn't sit still. They requested to participate in the Hunan Super League in the name of the “second provincial capital of Hunanese”.

It turns out that the Hunan Super League is about to start in September, and a football club located in Shenzhen requested to participate in the league as the “Shenzhen Team, the Second Provincial Capital of Hunan”.

In response, the Hunan News Broadcast rarely reported this “grassroots petition” in an official capacity and even admitted in the commentary that “Shenzhen is also the ‘provincial capital’ of Hunan.”

This team is called the Shenzhen Shaoyang People's Football Club. Its coach also told a meme in front of the camera of Hunan Satellite TV: “The coming - of - age ceremony for us Hunanese is to be ‘exiled to Lingnan’!”

In ancient times, “being exiled to Lingnan” was a very miserable thing, but in the modern context, “being exiled to Lingnan” has come to mean “Go to Guangdong to make a fortune, no matter where you're from in China”.

How many Hunanese are there in Shenzhen?

Data shows that the total number of Hunanese in Shenzhen is at least between 3 and 4 million. The permanent population of Shenzhen is about 18 million, which means that 1 out of every 6 Shenzhen residents is from Hunan.

Walking on the streets of Shenzhen, you can almost hear Hunanese plastic Mandarin everywhere. Its popularity is no less than that of Cantonese. Hunanese plastic Mandarin is also known as the “second official language of Shenzhen”. No wonder some netizens joked that Shenzhen is simply a “colony” for Hunanese.

Another piece of data can prove the “dominance” of Hunanese in Shenzhen. The Shenzhen Housing Provident Fund Management Center released data in 2020: Among those who pay housing provident funds in Shenzhen, the largest group is from Guangdong, accounting for 28.4%, the second - largest is from Hunan, accounting for 13.79%, and the third is from Hubei, accounting for 10.09%.

Judging from this data, Shenzhen is not only the ‘second provincial capital’ of Hunan but also the ‘second provincial capital’ of Hubei.

Other data shows that in Shenzhen, the number of Hunanese restaurants reached 7,827 (data from 2023), surpassing Cantonese restaurants (6,892), Sichuan restaurants (7,688), and Chaoshan restaurants (4,457), firmly ranking first in the Shenzhen catering market. (Data from The Paper, Dianping, etc.)

It's really not easy for Hunanese to leave their hometown and come to Shenzhen to work hard. However, Shenzhen has also provided Hunanese with a broad stage for life. They work, start businesses, and become bosses in Shenzhen. After making money, they not only improve their own lives but also contribute to the construction of their hometown. Hunan and Guangdong have formed a very close connection.

It's worth mentioning that in recent years, Shenzhen has also transferred many high - quality industries to Hunan. Shenzhen enterprises such as BYD, Huawei, Tencent, BGI, and Sunwoda have all invested in Hunan. Among them, BYD's Changsha factory is one of its three core production bases, and the other two are in Shenzhen and Xi'an.

It can be seen that the relationship between Hunan and Guangdong is a two - way journey, an important part of China's domestic economic cycle and the national unified market.

This article is from the WeChat public account “Urban Warfare”, written by Nan and Peng, and published by 36Kr with permission.