Shenzhen is the electronics capital of the world. It’s where the iPhone is made, as well as basically every tiny electronic component you can possibly think of.
I’ve always wanted to visit, but the thought of being thrown into the deep end in China is a little bewildering, particularly as the electronics market is hard to navigate as an English-only speaker.
This beautiful book is the ultimate guide to visiting Shenzhen and is being crowdfunded to bring it to life. It details how to navigate the Hua Qiang electronics market so you can get the best electronics for your projects.
It’s written by employees at Sutajio Kosagi, a company based in Singapore and specializes in building open hardware projects and hopes to give you what the team has learned from about ten years visiting the market.
Hua Qiang is packed from wall to wall with hundreds of stands selling every component you could dream of, but it’s hard to get access if you can’t speak any Mandarin.
Prices in the market can be incredibly low, with the book’s creator saying that the boxes in the above picture contain more than 150,000 capacitors — where you’re able to get a reel of 10,000 for the price of a “footlong Subway sandwich.”
The Essential Guide to Electronics in Shenzhen guides you through everything from making your order, getting the correct packaging, crossing the border, as well as how to ask if devices are counterfeit.
If you're a hardware hacker or maker, this might be the coolest reference book of the year. https://t.co/4NPpTHpJhC pic.twitter.com/Um9ok1CBpn
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 4, 2016
This isn’t a book for hobbyists — the writer says that it’s for those who really want to visit Shenzhen and get access to the source of the world’s electronics — for just $30, that’s a pretty great deal.
➤ The Essential Guide to Electronics in Shenzhen [Crowd Supply]
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