Paris, Luxembourg, Oxford and many more European cities have been «relocated» to China and are located on the HUAWEI campus in the city of Dongguan.
They call it a campus, but in reality it’s a «journey». A journey where you start in China, specifically the city of Dongguan, and within a short time you find yourself in Verona, pass through Luxembourg, then admire the buildings of Granada, and finally are transported to Paris. No, it isn’t some futuristic theme park, but the Ox Horn Campus of HUAWEI, a 1.4 million square meters tech city that looks more like a big-budget movie set than a corporate headquarters.
Recently, on our trip to China with HUAWEI we had the chance to go inside the campus, which has now become a landmark of the city. It was built in almost two years and cost around 1.5 billion dollars. However, it isn’t open to tourists, only to the company’s employees, their relatives, and invited guests—like us.
@g_baira When technology meets architecture and leaves you speechless. This is @Huawei’s massive campus in the city of Dongguan, China, inspired by famous cities of Europe. It was built in just 2 years and cost 1.5 billion dollars. One moment you’re in China, and the next, you think you’re sipping coffee somewhere between France and Switzerland. Can you imagine what it would be like to work there every day? #huawei #campus #china #Dongguan #travel #travelgogr #chinatravel #china #travel #chinatrip #chinalife #visitchina #travelchina #technology #tech #mobile #discoverchina #worldtravel #explore ♬ original sound - gbaira
From the very first moment we entered the Ox Horn Campus, we realized that things there are completely different. Suddenly you left the hustle, the lights, and the skyscrapers and found yourself among lakes, trees, and castles. No matter how much I had read about the campus, nothing prepared me for the experience I would live, live.
Just a short while outside bustling Shenzhen, HUAWEI has managed to create a landscape that seems to have leapt out of a European travel guide, offering the best working conditions to its employees.
When technology meets architecture
The campus is built beside Songshan Lake and is divided into 12 city-zones, each inspired by a different corner of Europe. Baroque bridges, cobbled lanes, stone towers, and romantic alleyways are all there, crafted with absolute precision and archival fidelity.
The architectural design was based on original plans from European cities, and the result is more than faithful. It’s almost real!
Behind all these historic backdrops are more than 25,000 employees of HUAWEI, who live a completely different work reality from the one we have in mind. You see, the tech company’s teams work inside buildings that look like palaces, castles, or old European libraries.
Housed within these buildings are R&D hubs (research and development), meeting rooms with views of lakes, data labs, and offices where ideas for the technological products of «tomorrow» are born. It’s like the Disneyland for tech employees, but with seriousness, innovation, and tremendous professionalism. At the same time, beyond offices and labs, the campus has restaurants, a library, a supermarket, and relaxation areas.
It’s worth noting that special emphasis has been placed on sustainability. All the campus buildings have been constructed with environmentally friendly materials, according to strict European standards, ensuring the safety and health of employees.
The daily life of employees on campus
The campus may be huge, yet inside there are no cars, buses, or motorbikes. Getting from place to place is by train, similar to what you’d find in a small European city.
You board, and each stop takes you on a different «journey». At some point, you look out the window and see Verona, go on and come upon Tallinn and Heidelberg. And amid all this, the everyday rhythms of a high-tech company don’t stop for a minute.
Our visit was full of sights we had never seen and, at the same time, many questions. Why would someone invest such a large amount of money in something that resembles a movie set? The answer comes almost automatically, as you wander through this fairytale landscape. The Ox Horn Campus is a conscious choice to create an environment where employees feel creative, safe, and calm far from urban chaos.
It’s a daily «escape» that infuses travel vibes into an everyday routine. Who wouldn’t want to work in an office with a view of a lake or a castle? The logic is that if the space around you looks like a postcard, then perhaps your work becomes even more creative too. And they’re not wrong!
Indeed, the more you walk and explore, the more you feel that the campus isn’t just an extravagance. It’s a statement. A statement about how HUAWEI sees the future of work: experiential, beautiful, human.
As our tour came to an end, we took a moment and sat on the grass, ate an ice cream, and gazed for a while at the impressive Heidelberg Castle. Or at least the Castle that HUAWEI had built, which looked strikingly like Heidelberg Castle.
And somewhere there we realized that there are still companies that serve creativity and not just functionality. Exactly as the Chinese technology company has done for its employees, providing them with the most ideal working conditions at the Ox Horn Campus in Dongguan.
