Huanggang Port

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Lok Ma Chau Control Point" redirects here. For Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point, see Futian Port.
This article is about the vehicular border crossing. For the pedestrian border crossing and MTR station in the same area, see Lok Ma Chau station.
Huanggang Port / Lok Ma Chau Control Point
皇岗口岸
落馬洲管制站
Lok Ma Chau Immigration Control Point 202004.jpg
Aerial view of Huanggang Port / Lok Ma Chau Control Point from Hong Kong side
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
General information
TypeBorder control
LocationFutian District, Shenzhen / Lok Ma Chau, Hong Kong
CountryChina
Coordinates22°31′15″N 114°04′30″E / 22.52074°N 114.07496°E / 22.52074; 114.07496
Opened1989
ManagementChina National Immigration Administration (mainland China)
ChinaHong Kong Immigration Department (Hong Kong)
Website
ka.sz.gov.cn (mainland China)
td.gov.hk (Hong Kong)
Coordinates22°31′16″N 114°04′30″E / 22.521°N 114.075°E / 22.521; 114.075
CarriesPedestrians, Vehicles, Containers, Cargo
CrossesFrontier Closed Area
Statistics
TollNo toll
Location
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Huanggang Port
Simplified Chinese皇岗口岸
Traditional Chinese皇崗口岸
Lok Ma Chau Control Point
Traditional Chinese落馬洲管制站
Simplified Chinese落马洲管制站
Huanggang Port pedestrian crossing
Huanggang Port vehicular border crossing between Lok Ma Chau, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Guangdong
Hong Kong-side counters in Lok Ma Chau Control Point
Hong Kong Visit Permit issued by People's Republic of China with a Huanggang Port Exit Stamp.

Huanggang Port (Chinese: 皇岗口岸) or the Lok Ma Chau Control Point (Chinese: 落馬洲管制站) is a port of entry/border crossing on the border between mainland China and Hong Kong, in the Futian District of Shenzhen and Lok Ma Chau in Hong Kong's New Territories, across the Sham Chun River from Huanggang. It opened in 1989. It started providing 24-hour passenger clearance in January 2003, and is still the only Hong Kong control point with Shenzhen in mainland China to do so[1] Before reaching this point, vehicles must pass through police checkpoints along road to Lok Ma Chau Control Point. Permits must be carried in order to pass these points and to travel to the control points.

Huanggang Port, close to Shenzhen city center, is one of the five most important ports that connect the city and Hong Kong. On its west is the start of the Guangshen Expressway, which is the main thoroughfare connecting Shenzhen and Hong Kong. At present, it is both the largest comprehensive road crossings for passengers and cargo in China and one of the largest land crossings. Every day, about 20,000 vehicles pass through it.[2] At the same time, it is also a passenger transit point. It is the second busiest in Shenzhen after Luohu Port and the third-largest passenger crossing after the Gongbei Port in Zhuhai.

History[]

Lok Ma Chau Control Point was the third road crossing built between Hong Kong and China, after Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok. It was built as part of the New Territories Circular Road project, and was intended to relieve the congested Man Kam To Control Point.[3] Construction began in December 1985.[4] Customs, police, and other buildings were designed by the Architectural Services Department.[4] The new crossing opened on 29 December 1989, initially only using the Eastern Bridge, providing two lanes.[5] The Western Bridge was opened to traffic on 18 October 1991, adding two more lanes.[4][6]

In October 1993, Governor Chris Patten announced a plan to open the crossing on a 24-hour basis. This was strongly supported by the territory's business community, but criticised by villagers due to increased noise and dust pollution.[7] Overnight border crossing was introduced on 4 November 1994 (i.e. after 3 November 1994).[8] The control point began providing 24-hour passenger clearance from 27 January 2003 (i.e. after 26 January 2003).[9]

Construction of a new four-lane bridge, directly to the east of the existing two bridges, was proposed by the government in early 2003 to meet increasing traffic demand.[10] Construction began in November 2003 and was completed in December 2004. The new bridge opened to traffic in January 2005.[11]

Operations[]

The port of entry covers an area of 1,000,100 square metres (10,765,000 sq ft), which includes a surveillance zone of 653,000 square metres (7,030,000 sq ft), living quarters of 68,000 square metres (730,000 sq ft), and a business service area of 295,000 square metres (3,180,000 sq ft) The surveillance zone has an eastern and western zone. The east zone is for cargo checking while the west is for passenger checking. The east of the cargo checking area is the entry checking field, and the west is the exit checking field. There are also 52 bus checking channels, including 12 car checking channels and 40 truck checking channels, 20 for entry and 20 for exit (10 were built after the immigration control carried out the policy of fast access); there are 50 passenger checking channels, including 25 for entry and 25 for exit. The designed carrying capacity is 50 thousand concurrent vehicles, and 50 thousand concurrent passengers.

Huanggang Port is the only full-time port in China. Both passenger and cargo checking work all day. Cargo checking begins at 7:00 a.m. and closes at 22:00 p.m., while six channels remain open between 22:00—24:00 pm (two for entry and four for exit).[citation needed]

Statistics[]

In 2015, Lok Ma Chau Control Point handled a total of 37 million people (including both drivers and passengers), making it the second-busiest road control point in Hong Kong, after Shenzhen Bay Control Point (which handled 41.5 million). For comparison, the nearby Lok Ma Chau Spur Line rail crossing handled 61.9 million.[12]

Public transport[]

Shuttle bus from Lok Ma Chau Control Point[]

Cross border shuttle buses between Huanggang Port in Shenzhen and San Tin Public Transport Interchange (PTI) (less than 2 km from Lok Ma Chau Control Point), stop en route at Lok Ma Chau Control Point. These shuttle buses are scheduled to run at least every 15 minutes, 365 days per year. San Tin PTI offers connecting public transport across Hong Kong mostly but not exclusively within the New Territories.

Franchised bus routes from San Tin PTI[]

  • KMB 76K, 276B, N73

Green minibus routes from San Tin PTI[]

  • NT 44B, 44B1, 75, 78, 79S, 605, 616S

Red minibus routes from San Tin PTI[]

Non-franchised bus routes from Lok Ma Chau Control Point[]

The unfranchised bus from Wan Chai dropping passengers at Lok Ma Chau Control Point.

The non-franchised buses bypass San Tin PTI direct to their destinations.

Mass transit rail[]

Huanggang Port connects with the Shenzhen Metro, Line 7 (Shenzhen Metro) at Huanggang Checkpoint station opened in October 2016. The counterpart Lok Ma Chau Checkpoint on the Hong Kong side is not accessible via Hong Kong's MTR system. Futian Port a few hundred metres from Huanggang Port but has large buildings in between making walking between the two impractical. Station nearby connects with Lok Ma Chau station on the MTR, although there is no direct metro connection between Huanggang and Futian nor between the 2 checkpoints on the Hong Kong side.

Cross-border buses[]

Sign at Huanggang port directing to the shuttle bus terminus.
The cross border shuttle bus terminus at Huanggang Control Point.
Cross border shuttles buses at Huanggang Control Point.
Sign at Huanggang Port indicating direction to unfranchised bus across Hong Kong.
Bus Operated by All China Express at Huanggang Checkpoint in Shenzhen awaiting departure cross-border to Mong Kok in Hong Kong

For improved passenger service, there are stops for direct buses and the ticket office[14] at Huanggang Port. The stops are at the south of the passenger checking building, and the east of the shuttle buses, and there are six parking spaces reserved for short-term buses, for passengers to get on the buses. The six ticket offices are temporarily on the south of the passenger checking building, and the east of the departure passageway.

There are many cross-border traffic routes in Huanggang Port, which lead to Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok, Wan Chai, Tsuen Wan, Kam Sheung Road, Hong Kong Disneyland, and the International Airport in Hong Kong.[15] Routes to Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok, Wan Chai, Tsuen Wan, Kam Road work all day. There are also many buses between Huanggang Port and the Border Control Station in Lok Ma Chau in Hong Kong.

After the Huanggang port began 24/7 service, the number of passengers per day quickly increased from 50 thousand to 110 thousand per day, up to a maximum of 172,000. Every day, buses cross the border between 1000-1100 times, twice the normal number and far more than the designed capacity of the number of passengers and vehicles. To solve this problem, the authorities in Guangdong and Hong Kong agreed to provide a combined service of long and short-term buses. There are five groups of six routes of short-term buses between Huangguang Port and Hong Kong, which run between Wan Chai, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan, Mong Kok, and Kam Tin in Hong Kong and Huangguang Port, with the Mong Kok, and Kam Tin together in one group. It is run by 5 groups of companies made of 93 passenger transportation companies, and has been operating for 2 years. All the routes operate 24 hours a day[16] except that the Kam Tin route, which works about 18 hours. The bus frequency of every route is at least 60 times. When busy, every 15 minutes and 30 minutes at less busy times and at midnight. Furthermore, buses of every route have the same color and the same ticket price to simplify management.

Taxis[]

  • NT Taxis
  • Urban Taxis

References[]

  1. ^ "Control Point Locations | Immigration Department".
  2. ^ "Shenzhen Hotels Near Huanggang Port". Beijing: Beijing Xindong International Travel Service. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  3. ^ Lau, Muriel (30 December 1989). "Drivers criticise Lok Ma Chau crossing". South China Morning Post. p. 3.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Stoner, Tad (27 December 1989). "Lok Ma Chau border crossing to open on reduced capacity". South China Morning Post. p. 3.
  5. ^ Hong Kong 1990: Report for the year 1989. Hong Kong: Government Printer. 1990. p. 3.
  6. ^ "Daily Information Bulletin". Government Information Services. 17 October 1991. p. 28.
  7. ^ Ng, Kang-Chung (22 January 1994). "Villagers fear sleepless nights". South China Morning Post. p. 4.
  8. ^ Ball, Steve (4 November 1994). "24-hour border crossing begins". South China Morning Post. p. 6.
  9. ^ "Lok Ma Chau Control Point to provide 24-hour passenger clearance services". Hong Kong Government. 8 January 2003.
  10. ^ "New Lok Ma Chau - Huanggang Boundary Bridge proposed". Hong Kong Government. 11 April 2003.
  11. ^ "Cross Boundary Traffic". Transport and Housing Bureau. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  12. ^ "Appendix 7 - Statistics on Passenger Traffic by Control Point". Annual Report 2015. Immigration Department.
  13. ^ Un-numbered red minibus between Lok Ma Chau Control Point and Kwun Tong
  14. ^ "Shopping & Dining". Hong Kong: Swire Properties. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  15. ^ "Huanggang Port". Shenzhen: ShenzhenParty.com.
  16. ^ "Shenzhen Huanggang Port Realizes 24-Hours Customs Clearance". 1 North State Street Suite 900 Chicago, IL 60602 USA: Highbean Business. 30 January 2003. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2013.CS1 maint: location (link)

External links[]

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