Shenzhen Speed? What That?

Since China is in the news following President Trump’s recent visit for a summit meeting with President Xi Jinping, it might be a good time to take a deko at some English words of Chinese origin.

First, we’ll look at a term I came across in a recent issue of New York Review of Books (April 9, 2026): Shenzhen speed.

I have encountered “Shenzhen speed” elsewhere too: in articles referencing the growth of a small Chinese fishing village into a giant manufacturing hub in the span of a few decades.

• Shenzhen speed
  Meaning: refers to the rapid pace of development, construction, manufacturing, innovation, or economic growth associated with Shenzhen, which has turned into a marvel in less than four decades.
  Example: [The migrants] built highways, bridges, and the city’s first skyscraper, the fifty-story Guomao Building, at the rate of one floor every three days – a pace that came to be known as “Shenzhen speed.” Source: New York Review of Books (April 9, 2026, p.11)

Let’s consider a few more Chinese terms that have gained currency in English:

• Zuò shān guān hǔ dòu
  Meaning: a Chinese idiom, which translates to “Sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight”
• Kowtow
  Meaning: act in an excessively submissive or obedient manner
• 996
  Meaning: working 9AM to 9PM, six days a week
• Yin yeung
  I found the above word on the OED web site.
• Meaning: "a drink originating in Hong Kong, consisting of a mixture of tea, brewed coffee, sugar, and milk, which can be served hot or cold"
• Typhoon
  Meaning: a powerful tropical cyclone in the western Pacific
• Neijuan
  Meaning: involution, cut-throat competition between businesses
  Example: Neijuan was the Economist's foreign word of the year. (Source: The Economist, December 6, 2025, p.75)
• Gung-ho
  Meaning: extremely enthusiastic or eager
• Tofu
  Meaning: Bean curd made from soybeans
• Yin and yang
  Meaning: Complementary opposing forces
• Tai Chi
  Meaning: a Chinese martial art and exercise system