The historical root of Shenzhen is the ancient city of Nantou. Nantou became the residence of Panyu salt official, one of the 28 salt officials in China, and was called "Dongguan" in history. In the first year of Wu Ganlu in the Three Kingdoms (265), a captain named Siyan was established in Dongguan to build a "Leicheng", which was the earliest city in Shenzhen. The real city of Shenzhen should start with the establishment of Dongguan County and Bao 'an County in the sixth year of Xianhe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (33 1), where the ancient city of Nantou is located. Dongguan County governs six counties, including Chaoshan, Meizhou, Huizhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Hong Kong and Macao, and Xiao Yun and Zhao 'an in Fujian. At that time, the economy and culture of this area had developed considerably.

This ancient city, once known as the "gate of all light", can only survive in the cracks of surrounding houses. Now, the whole ancient city is an irregular rectangle, with a wall range of 680 meters from east to west and 500 meters from north to south. There is a broken wall with different heights in the north city, and the rest have long since disappeared. Complicated historical reasons caused the embarrassing state of Nantou ancient city. It was not until 1999 that the protection and development of Nantou gradually got on the right track. At present, the Nantou Ancient City Museum has been established and opened to the public, and the restored South Gate also vaguely shows the face of the year. There are also some historical buildings in the city, such as Wen Tianxiang's Guo Xin Official Document Memorial Hall, Dongguan Hall, Baode Temple, and more than 40 Ming and Qing dwellings with Lingnan and Nanyang architectural styles.