Deadly poisonous snakes aside, this is a wonderful layout, skillfully routed over some extremely challenging terrain. Like its designer, the Norman is in-your-face assertive, flamboyantly attractive, immaculately groomed and tough. It ranks among the country's top 10 courses according to Golf Magazine China.

Mission Hills also offers three driving ranges, a learning academy, 51 tennis courts, two swimming pools, a spa, a conference center, 500 hotel rooms and three million square feet of real estate. Some of the homes are over 10,000 square feet, with everything from mah-jongg rooms and walk-in humidors to swimming pools with thundering waterfalls. It's enough to bring tears to the eyes of Donald Trump.

But Mission Hills isn't the only game in town, just the biggest one. Most private clubs in China welcome-even depend on-foreign visitors (mostly Japanese and Koreans), and two of the best courses in the Shenzhen area are the Sand River Golf Club and Shenzhen Golf Club.

Sand River was designed by Gary Player in a tidal basin beside Shenzhen Bay, its fairways lined by palms and mangroves with water in play virtually from start to finish, in the manner of Florida layouts. This is a club dedicated to very high standards in everything from course conditioning to pace of play. A notice in the pro shop exhorts members to complete their rounds in four hours and 15 minutes or risk having their weekend tee times restricted. I liked that.

If a country with a golf lineage that goes back only two decades can be said to have a grande dame course, Shenzhen Golf Club would be a strong candidate. Designed in 1985 by Isao Aoki and revamped in 2000 by the Canadian team of Robin Nelson and Neil Haworth, this is the closest course to Hong Kong (just a 10-minute cab ride) and sits in the heart of dynamic Shenzhen with the city skyline in constant, somewhat surreal, view from its rolling fairways.

Among its members is a self-taught 41-year-old who made history two years ago by becoming the first Chinese player to compete in the Masters. Lian-Wei Zhang earned his Augusta invitation by birdieing the final hole of the Caltex Masters in Singapore to edge Ernie Els by a stroke.

Zhang was in town during my visit and joined two members of the local press and me for a round. A lanky fellow, well over six feet tall, he showed only average power for a pro and got around Shenzhen in two over from the member tees. On the other hand, he wasn't being pushed-our best ball couldn't have beaten him.

Chinese golf officials are desperate to produce at least one megastar as a way of helping golf spread to their burgeoning middle class. One theory is that this will happen only with the advent of sterner courses that will train and challenge them.