TheSZWeb | Shenzhen News and Commentary

What is the easiest way to get from Shenzhen to Hong Kong, and vice versa? The answer as of now is undisputably: Futian Checkpoint.

You can get to Futian Checkpoint by taking the Shenzhen Metro to Huanggang Metro Stop at the bottom of Line 4. It’s easy to cross the China / HK border inside the checkpoint building, and once on the other side you are in Lok Ma Chau KCR station.

Lok Ma Chau is the rail connection to the rest of Hong Kong. Journey time between the SZ side of the border crossing and downtown Hong Kong is about 1 hour.

That is a lot faster and less stressful than crossing at Luohu, and miles easier for tourists than negotiating the extremely hectic Huanggang coach station.

You cross the Shenzhen river on a moving walkway; the China side conveyors are usually broken or switched off, of course.

You can get good views of downtown Shenzhen from the other side of the river after crossing the checkpoint.

From the checkpoint bridge you can see the Futian Free Trade Zone and the 4 Points Sheraton Hotel.

The Hong Kong / Lok Ma Chau side of the checkpoint is being marketed as an instant cross border shopping center. At the moment it is shiny and empty with only a few shops open.

Futian Checkpoint is quiet, clean, and easy to get through. Totally the opposite of Luohu and Huanggang basically.

The Futian Checkpoint footbridge seen from the Hong Kong side.

The Hong Kong side of the Shenzhen River is just ponds and farms. An abrupt and amazing contrast to the sprawling urban development of Shenzhen.

This is where Hong Kong produces all those mosquitoes that bite us in Shenzhen.

The Futian Checkpoint seems to have been designed for a greater flow of travelers than Luohu. There are at least 50 gates, mainly for Hong Kong residents to pass through the passport control. This is particularly dumb design because most regular HK border crossers use the hand scanners and thus move quickly through. The slow ones are the “foreigners”, who need manual examination of passports and stern gazes from the police. At Futian Checkpoint, as with Luohu, there are only a handful of gates given over for foreigners, but currently it’s all good because no one seems to have found out about the checkpoint yet, and it’s so empty even at weekends you can just stroll through without queueing.

Conclusion: if travelling between HK and SZ, and you are not close to the Shekou Ferry Port, this is the no.1 best way to do it. Don’t try to get to the checkpoint by car, however, because it is crappily designed to have zero taxi access, and the whole area around is mobbed by illegal taxis, fake goods sellers, hotel room naggers (you will know them when you feel them pulling your clothes), and the local Huanggang fishnet stocking brigade. At least the HK backpackers have something they need the moment they’re across the border.

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