BEIJING, Sept. 23 -- When the first stop on last winter's tour of 265 never-before seen in Asia Picassos was announced as being not Beijing or Shanghai but Shenzhen, some in China's art scene expressed mild indignation.

    Though the rolling Picasso exhibit did eventually make its way to the cities considered more art savvy, the fact that their first public viewing in China was at Shenzhen's He Xiangning museum announced loud and clear - to the dismay of some, and delight of others - that Shenzhen had designs to be seen not merely as a city of high finance, but as one of art and culture as well.

    Eight months after the Picassos left Shenzhen, I head back to the city on an early morning ferry from Hong Kong to the burgeoning art scene of China's richest and youngest city. I am looking to answer a burning question that may change the face of Chinese art: "Is Shenzhen vying for the title of coolest art city in China?"

    The first stop on the Shenzhen whirlwind art tour is the He Xiangning museum in fashionable OCT (or Overseas Chinese Town). During the Picasso exhibit, Liu Yingjiu, the museum's suave and art savvy curator, alerted me to the fact the exhibit's opening in Shenzhen had more to do with promoting real estate than culture, as many of the Picassos wound up being seen by potential condominium buyers before the general public. During the exhibit, Liu quipped that while Shenzhen people might not be the nation's "greatest art appreciators," they were definitely "China's most voracious art consumers."

    But behind his practiced - and no doubt necessary - veil of cynicism, Liu is a man who definitely understands the connection between a city's art scene and its character. "As a city, Shenzhen is still very much a work in progress," Liu says. "Artists play a huge role in development of Shenzhen's character." Earlier this year, Liu was instrumental in bringing three of China's trendiest artists to Shenzhen to create long, canvas-spanning murals for the opening of the Metro station closest to the museum. Unfortunately, for reasons best summed up as bureaucracy, politics and confusion, Fang Lijun's Song of Joy, Zhang Xiaogang's Large Family - Metro and Wang Guangyi's Hello World never made it to the subway platforms. The paintings instead wound up on display at the museum.