Normal travel between Chinese mainland, Hong Kong resumes with border reopening

Normal travel between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong resumed as various check points linking Shenzhen and Hong Kong reopened on this morning (January 8).

The reopening of Shenzhen-Hong Kong boundary check points marked the first step of the resumption of normal personnel exchanges between mainland and Hong Kong over the past three years.

Hundreds of passengers went to various check points for entering mainland

According to Hong Kong Government, as of 6pm, January 7, more than 410,000 visitors had made appointments for customs services to Chinese mainland. In the initial stage, Hong Kong citizens can return to the mainland without quarantine inspection through seven checkpoints. Among which, the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point reopened at 6.30 am, January 8.

At 6:06 am, with the first train arrived at Lok Ma Chau station, over 100 passengers went to Lok Ma Chau Check Point in Hong Kong and waited for the border resumption. Some passengers were excited and looked forward to reuniting with their families soon.

(Hong Kong lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu)

Hong Kong lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu took the first train to mainland on January 8, and he was satisfied with the customs clearance at the port and MTR, "There are staff to remind passengers to provide negative nucleic acid test within 48 hours, to make reservations, and to prepare valid documents." He hopes it can increase the quota for Hong Kong residents to mainland and simplify related procedures such as nucleic acid testing in the future.

(Miss Choi from Hong Kong)

Miss Choi also entered the mainland via Lok Ma Chau check point this morning. "I would like to travel around Chinese mainland with my daughter during the winter holiday," she told GDToday.

The Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint opens for visitors at 6.30 am, and the first batch of visitors entered Chinese mainland via the checkpoint.

(Mr. Lai from Hong Kong)

"It only took me around 10 minutes for crossing the border," Mr. Lai is a Hong Kong police officer and he set off at 5:30 am from home. He plans to have a reunion with his family in the city of Chongqing.

（Mr. Guo from Hong Kong）

Mr. Guo is one of the visitors entered Shenzhen this morning and has been working in Hong Kong for many years. He plans to celebrate the Chinese New Year with his family in Shenzhen. 

"It's been over two years since I've been home and I'm so excited," Mr. Zhuang is the first inbound passenger at Futian Port, and he took the train home for Spring Festival immediately after the border resumption. "Fortunately, I was the first to witness the reopening of the Futian Port, and I hope that it will always continue in the future."

Some photos about the cross-border travel resumption between Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

CE of Hong Kong SAR: HK, Guangdong to further optimize services on travel between two regions

Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR John Lee visited Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point at 8:30 this morning (January 8) for the cross-border resumption between Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Lee pointed out that the three days before the Chinese New Year see the largest reservation numbers. As of early this morning, there are still quotas for reservation every day. Based on the reservation, Lok Ma Chau (Futian Checkpoint) is the most popular among all the checkpoints.

When being asked of when to cancel the booking system, Lee said the governments of Hong Kong and Guangdong will work together to further optimize the arrangements on travel between the mainland and Hong Kong, and will cancel the reservation system one day.

It's reported that, the daily quota with advance bookings to pass through three land crossings - the Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To, and Shenzhen Bay Port is 50,000, with 35,000 through Lok Ma Chau (Futian Checkpoint).