On the morning of February 6, thousands of travellers made their way to respective checkpoints as Mainland China fully resumed normal travel with Hong Kong and Macau.
Most of the travellers comprised people returning to their hometowns to reunite with family members, students going back to school, cyclists, business travellers, as well as those heading out to explore Hong Kong, Macau, and the rest of the world.
All cross-boundary control points were operational, including Lo Wu, Huanggang, Liantang and Sha Tau Kok between Hong Kong and the Mainland China, with the latter’s travel agencies also allowed to organise group tours to Hong Kong and Macau from Monday.
Prior to opening on Monday, Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Control Point started seeing a large number of Hong Kong residents heading to the port from the bus station in Mong Kok at 23.00 the night before.
Previously offering only freight clearance during the pandemic, the Heung Yuen Wai/Liantang Control Point started passenger services for the first time on Monday.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Tourism Board staff greeted arriving visitors at the three checkpoints as part of Hello Hong Kong campaign, while the Macao Government Tourism Office held welcoming ceremonies at the Hengqin port and Macao International Airport.
The full resumption of normal travel and group tours will aid in the recovery of the tourism industry in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. It will also facilitate business exchanges among the three countries, for example, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference led an 80-member delegation on Monday from Hong Kong to visit the Nansha New Area in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, by high-speed train.
About 128,000 people had entered Mainland China via all ports and 114,000 arrived in Hong Kong as of 20.00 on Monday, with Hong Kong International Airport recording 40,000 inbound and outbound passengers.
