On January 6, the number of passengers traveling between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao via the Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge exceeded 100 million.
The footsteps crossing cities, the smiling faces keeping appointments. Behind the 100 million trips is the daily routine of "stepping on the gas to cross three places." Unlike when the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge first opened, when reporters stepped onto the bridge again, they found that the people crossing the bridge had "changed."
They are becoming more and more carefree: Mr. Zeng, a Hong Kong-registered car owner, said that he had already experienced the convenience of "Hong Kong cars going north" two years ago. Now he drives to the mainland two or three days a month.
Their pace has become increasingly hurried: A reporter arrived at the Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge early in the morning, and mainland travelers in the queue said they could cross the border here in the morning and still make it back to work in Zhuhai by 4:30 pm. The biggest change in recent years is that border crossing has become much more convenient; no need to show documents, just "face recognition" to pass through.
Increasingly international: Thai tourists say that clearing customs through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is quick, easy, and comfortable. The bridge scenery is very beautiful, the bridge deck is very long, and the tunnel is also very impressive.
A bridge spans the Lingdingyang, and in the years since its opening, it has changed far more than just physical distance. With the continuous release of policy benefits such as "Macau vehicles going north," "Hong Kong vehicles going north," and "Guangdong vehicles going south," the three regions of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau have been constantly using new technologies to "shorten time and space," truly condensing the three-hour journey between Hong Kong and Zhuhai and Macau into a convenient 45-minute trip.
Zhang Lei, deputy director of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Border Inspection Station, said that the station has introduced new high-tech hardware and software facilities and equipment such as AI algorithms, big data systems, and mobile inspection terminals, and launched technological and personalized services such as smart channel face recognition fast passage and online filling of foreigners' entry cards.
In the Greater Bay Area, the story of surpassing 100 million passenger trips continues. Recently, the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link also surpassed 100 million passenger trips. Departing from Hong Kong West Kowloon Station, passengers can directly reach 96 stations across the country, arriving at Shenzhen Futian Station in as little as 15 minutes. The "living radius" of Greater Bay Area residents is constantly expanding.
One hundred million visits represent the footsteps of those coming and going, the warmth of shared hearts, and a new starting point for the Greater Bay Area story, moving from "cross-border" to "borderless".
(CCTV reporters Sun Bing and Dai Wei)
