Food diversity is much better in China these days. Last time I was in GZ, I had a lot of options (Indian, Vietnamese, Japanese, etc....). Also, cheaper of course. (Again, I’ve never been to SZ before, but I assume it’s at least as good as GZ).
The valley is a low bar though. Pho isn’t going to be better in SV for some reason, and a first tier has plenty of mid-high end Japanese options (eg Hatsune’s) that you won’t find in the valley without looking really hard. Even high-end hamburgers in China often taste better than the states because they are using Japanese and Australian recipes (beetroot and egg work on a burger).
I love to talk crap about Shenzhen as much as the next person but you’re talking out of your arse. The food in Shanghai and in Hong Kong is amazing even if the selection of foreign cuisines is limited. Cantonese food is absolutely amazing and local to Shenzhen. You’re also not going to have trouble finding food from anyplace else in China in a city that’s well over 90% immigrants from other parts of China. Sichuan food, Yunnan food, Jiangnan, Northern, Xinjiang, Manchurian. Chinese food is amazing all by itself. You can find Japanese food in any Tier 1 city in China even if the quality is hit and miss, ditto Italian or French.
