Land boundary control point Lo Wu

lo wu immigration control point (羅湖入境管制站) passenger cross border point between hong kong , mainland china. operates daily 6:30 am midnight. during peak hours, holidays , weekends, waiting time entries , exits through lo wu shorter other 3 control points because has largest visitors handling capacity. of passenger departures (including non-residents) hong kong mainland china, 90% go through land border control points of lo wu, lok ma chau, man kam , sha tau kok, lo wu accounting 85% of total departures.

lo wu popular border crossing people travelling mainland china because people take east rail line, more convenient compared other means of transport. passing through lo wu, 1 can reach busiest commercial zone of shenzhen in shortest period of time.

starting 5 july 2002, returning hong kong resident aged 18 or above has spent @ least 24 hours outside hong kong may bring in 60 cigarettes duty-free own use. starting 1 august 2010, however, duty-free allowance has been reduced 19. under dutiable commodities ordinance, incoming passenger must declare dutiable cigarettes customs officer , pay duty on them.

24-hour border crossing through lo wu

in mid-december 2002, hong kong government announced lok ma chau immigration control point bordering huanggang port control point on shenzhen side shall take lead provide round-the-clock passenger service before chinese new year. vehicles , container trucks have been moving both ways throughout night @ control point.

however, 24-hour border-crossing @ lo wu control point still undergoing vigorous debates arguing limited number of passengers @ night. in addition, higher costs , noise pollution created. kowloon-canton railway chairman michael tien has once said absolutely impossible run railway services round-the-clock because of difficulties in maintenance. new policy has both advantages , disadvantages. clear trade , transportation , logistic links between mainland china , hong kong flourish. however, may cause social problems since eases way go hong kong mainland china.

safety problems @ land boundary control point

lo wu within closed area along long border. usually, travellers wanting pass through lo wu reach shenzhen allowed enter area. citizens wishing enter area other purposes require special approval hong kong police force.

an incident happened in 2000, involving boy named yu man-hon (chinese name: 庾文翰), mentally disabled. missing @ lo wu boundary control point. controversy arose when fifteen-year-old ran across boundary control point, without identification. in confusion, , due lack of understanding border officers on both sides, mistakenly released mainland china , has not been heard since. officials criticised lack of awareness , failure recognise yu s mental disability, letting him free roam in unfamiliar place. parents still searching him; chances of finding him diminishing, chances of finding him unlikely.