Huge crowds at border checkpoints

Border checkpoints experienced heavy crowds as Hongkongers returned home following the conclusion of the Easter and Ching Ming Festival holidays.

The Shenzhen port office anticipated a surge in travelers at various land boundary control points starting from 8pm the previous day. Some individuals using the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge opted to return to Hong Kong a few hours earlier to avoid peak travel times.

One mother named Chan crossed the border with her daughter yesterday afternoon as the latter needed to return to school today.

"Many people will not return until 'the last minute.' They will return to Hong Kong after having dinner in the mainland and there will be a lot of people crossing the border in the evening. Therefore, we chose to return right after lunch," she said.

Another traveler named Yu said: "Hongkongers are all returning because of work and school obligations and want to minimize exposure to large crowds."

The Shenzhen port office reported that from April 4-5 of the Ching Ming Festival, an average of 777,000 people crossed Shenzhen-Hong Kong border checkpoints daily. This figure included 460,000 residents of Hong Kong and Macau as well as 300,000 mainland Chinese.

"April 6 marked the last day of the mainland's Ching Ming Festival holiday, coinciding with a weekend day in Hong Kong. Mainland visitors flocked to Hong Kong for sightseeing, while Hong Kong and Macau residents traveled to Shenzhen for leisure and consumption," said the port office.

The office predicted that April 7 would witness a peak in the return of Hong Kong and Macau residents, resulting in significant traffic at major land boundary checkpoints such as Huanggang, Futian, Luohu, Shenzhen Bay, Liantang and the West Kowloon high-speed rail station.

To ensure a smooth flow of border crossings, authorities planned to closely monitor changes in passenger flow and open all inspection channels during peak hours.

According to the Immigration Department, over 360,000 mainland visitors entered Hong Kong from the previous Thursday to Saturday, while nearly 1.1 million Hongkongers returned to the city. The National Immigration Administration reported that during the holiday, there were 2.26 million visits between Hong Kong and Macau residents and the mainland, marking a 35.9 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge witnessed a record-breaking number of vehicles on Saturday, with over 19,000 crossings. This marked the third time within a span of seven days that the bridge broke its previous traffic record.