8 | Wednesday, October 16, 2019 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY HONG KONG The Lo Wu checkpoint, the first land port of entry between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, came into service in 1950. Many historic moments were Lo Wu in recorded there, amid the changes taking place over several decades. During that time, China grew from a poverty-stricken nation to become the second largest economy in the world. Lo Wu also underwent remarkable changes, as infrastructure adapted to changing times and the software of a new era. The people who pass through the checkpoint every 70years day, have changed, as well. Julianna Wu reports. 1950s 2019 Waiting time to cross the border Waiting time to cross the boundary People queued for hours. For many the border crossing Lo Wu Bridge, which has been rebuilt in 1950s, was E-channels reduce the time for passing the mainland’s entailed a whole day as British or Chinese o cials relocated downstream in 2003, to be preserved as a Lo Wu Control Point now is a six-story building, connecting or Hong Kong’s checkpoint to 30 seconds. In total it sometimes denied entry. monument for posterity. Hong Kong MTR’s East Rail Line and Shenzhen subway line. takes less than 30 minutes to cross the boundary. To Hong Kong To Shenzhen To Hong Kong Facial recognition: Finger recognition: Visitors can enjoy the Automated Immigration Mainland used at mainland used at both Hong Kong and Clearance (e-Channel) service at both Hong Kong border checkpoint mainland checkpoints and the mainland’s checkpoints. o cial To Shenzhen Camera Fingerprint sensor British border o cial Fences deployed Metal detector checks documents of travelers. Cross-boundary middle school students Robot to maintain the order of queue Travelers Travelers often bring electrical Nowadays, people like appliances to the mainland. to bring seasonal Hong Fans are said to be the most Kong products back to popular, as weather is pretty hot the mainalnd, like Jenny’s in Guangdong. cookies, mooncakes, dry seafood and others Locomotive Electric train Bamboo shoulder pole People wore layers of clothing which were passed on to poor mainland relatives. Clothing worn Ticket: Ticket: while crossing HK$5.8 from the old HK$39 for Octopus users, the border was Kowloon station in HK$43 for single trip from tax free. Tsim Sha Tsui to Lo Wu Hung Hom to Lo Wu Annual travelers Annual travelers crossing Lo Wu in crossing Lo Wu No. of public holidays: the 1960s in 2018 No. of public holidays: 6 HK 7 Mainland 0.8 million 85 million 17HK 19 Mainland 1961 Society HK 2017 $46,221 Life expectancy Life expectancy HK Mainland GDP per Capita 68 HK HK $437 $76 (current $) 85 Mainland 44 76 Mainland $8,759 Mainland Changes in cross-boundary travelers For all checkpoints Percentage of mainland residents Percentage of female Traveling purpose of mainland visitors to HK varies through time among all cross-boundary travelers cross-boundary travelers 67.4% 50% 44.4% 36.7% 31.2% 30.4% 11.6% 8.7% Leisure Business 1999 2017 1999 2017 1999 2017 1999 2017 Source: World Bank; HK Planning Department; HK Census and Statistics Department; O ce of Port of Entry and Exit of Shenzhen; MTR; Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation.