When we took our jobs in Shenzhen, borders were still closed but we knew that covid restrictions wouldn’t last forever, and that with Hong Kong on our doorstep it would be a great weekend destination. However, if Shenzhen was Suzhou we would absolutely be in Hong Kong every weekend, but Shenzhen is so much better than Suzhou in almost every way. Suzhou has the history and with ancient waterways and old white buildings it is hard to beat, but Suzhou doesn’t have great restaurants.

Shenzhen was only officially recognised a city on 1 March 1979, prior to that it was a fishing village and now it is one of four old first tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen). There are newer tier one cities which include Suzhou, but there is no comparison. Shenzhen is a vibrant area no matter what district you are in. I am probably slightly biased now, the view I wake up to is of the sea. There is no clock tower and certainly no 250 students living on top of me.

With walks along the sea you don’t need to be in Hong Kong, with restaurants serving you Mexican food with soul and others letting you try new desserts before putting it on the dessert menu, gelato that really melts in the mouth and burgers that are next level, restaurants that while accessed via a shopping mall transport you into what feels like a cocktail bar from a bygone age Shenzhen’s foodie following is top tier. And the price… well it is cheaper than the Special Administrative Region and that is why we are hearing a lot more English being spoken at the weekends than Mandarin because the Cantonese are coming from Hong Kong to spend their HK Dollars.

This weekend is not a holiday on the mainland. Qingming, tomb sweeping holiday is this coming Thursday and Friday, but in HK it is a holiday – thanks to its colonial past. We spent a couple of nights away in a hotel that should have been empty this morning as it is a working day in China, but there was a queue for breakfast. Many people had crossed the border.

It is estimated that 820,000 travellers a day will cross the border over the next few days with the peak days being Thursday and Saturday (the beginning and end of the holiday on the mainland). Last Friday, according to the Shenzhen Daily 882,000 people crossed the border – a single day record since the reopening of the border. The Irish border it is believed has about 34,000 ish commuters crossing every day for comparison.

Now when I say the border, there are 10 places though I have also read that there are 11 places to cross and not all of them are open 24 hours. We have done the ferry crossing from Hong Kong Airport to Shekou (both ways), we have also walked across the border at Shenzhen Bay, routinely we are getting the 14 minute train from Futian to West Kowloon (HK), we have done the ferry Sheung Wang (HK) to Shekou and we have done the crossing at Huanggang Port in a car.

Shekou Ferry is by far the most convenient for us in terms of distance, but there are only 3 ferries a day to Hong Kong. You do China immigration in China and Hong Kong immigration in Hong Kong once you have crossed the water in between. Shenzhen Bay is the start/end of the bridge across to Hong Kong and having done that as a car passenger and as a foot passenger, I don’t mind either way how we cross the border. Going to Hong Kong in a private car is definitely quicker than returning as you get out of the car and go through Chinese immigration which is separate from the foot passenger way, once you have done China immigration you then return to the car and drive to a booth rather like any booth you would get on a motorway to pay a toll. Passports are handed over, car doors or windows are opened to make sure all passengers match the passports and once that is done away you go. All immigration for both China and Hong Kong at Shenzhen Bay is done on the China side of the bridge. The same for the Huanggang Port.

We found out to our cost the other week, that while you can order a car in Hong Kong to take you all the way home, the car number plate must be permitted to make the journey across the Shenzhen Bay bridge. It appears that not all cars have that permit and while the Shenzhen Bay crossing is only 15-20 minutes from home, the Huanggang crossing is 30 minutes on a good day without traffic and the day we had to do it – was more like 45 minutes.

Returning to China though, there is no special land for car passengers, you have go through the arrivals hall with the foot passengers who mainly all come from buses so queues can build up.

Our preferred mode of transport for netball is the 14 minute train from Futian. From school on a Tuesday evening, as long as we are in a Didi by 5pm, we can make the 5:42pm train. The beauty of this train is, that once everyone has boarded the train can and does leave early. The beauty of checking passports/IDs of passengers means that they know if everyone is on the train. We haven’t ever been on a train that is full going, but on most occasions on the return journey the train is fuller. The emptiness of the train going to HK, means that we can be through both China and HK immigration on the HK side of the train within 5 minutes. Returning from netball on a Tuesday night can be fraught as we never have much time to spare but the 30 minute taxi ride from Hong Kong Cricket Club to West Kowloon is generally traffic free and as we have minimal luggage we get through pretty quickly. The only glitch we have had is making sure the taxis take us to West Kowloon and not Kowloon. The train from Kowloon takes passengers to the airport whereas the West Kowloon station only takes passengers to the mainland. This has caused confusion on more than one occasion with us confirming that as we live on the mainland we don’t want the airport.

The train costs 68rmb per journey £7.46 or US$9.40 and I think is incredible value given its speed. The most expensive part of the netball journey is the taxi ride from West Kowloon to HK Cricket Club. HK$170 £17:24 or US$21:72 is the cost each way for a 30 minute ride I guess is not so bad, but for a didi doing the journey back from Futian to home 40 minutes in length is about the same cost as the train! On Sundays for the matches that are at the Aberdeen Road courts we can metro from the train station which we can do within 40-45 minutes of leaving the train.

Hong Kong Cricket Club coach and team have been really flexible with Eleanor. They see that she is making a commitment and so she joins two teams in their training as she arrives midway through the U14 training and continues into the U16/19 training 6:40-8pm. Everyone else does at hour, but they make it work for her.

All 3 of us have e-channel for China immigration. This always causes confusion for the immigration staff who routinely try to direct us to the channel for visitors to get our passports stamped but we just nod and keep going to the e-channel section. We insert our photo page, the barrier opens and then we are trapped until our face is matched with our fingerprints. We put our finger on the glass and then wait. Sometimes the second barrier opens really quickly, other times it feels like you have been trapped in a starting gate. One instance saw me having to give my name and date of birth to staff while pulling back my hair so that they could see it was really me.

With our Gold Qatar status (expired yesterday) it allowed Martin and I to get e-channel for Hong Kong as well. You either get it as a member of a rewards scheme (high tier needed) or on your fourth journey into the region (by air) within a year. Eleanor can’t get e-channel until she is 18 so for now we have a wad of arrival slips that we fill out at home so she doesn’t have to do it in the station thus saving time! Our e-channel for HK will last as long as our passport does.

With our regular trips to Hong Kong, comes of course with a “need” to go to Marks and Spencer. The luggage gets x-rayed on return to the mainland, and while there is a list of prohibited items, we have brought back most things including a rotisserie chicken and cocktail sausages. Other things we bring back because I am sure people want to know… cheese (again not entirely sure we should), pain au chocolate, tiger bread, farmhouse loaf, hot cross buns, pâté, pork pies and custard creams. There is a Marks and Spencer at the ferry terminal at Sheung Wan which has been used on occasion as has the one in Central. Marks and Spencer withdrew from the mainland in our second year here, so I think it is remarkable and a comforting confirmation that M&S remains in HK. There are 26 stores – franchised – but at least the brand is still there having entered Hong Kong in 1988!

On Thursday we will be three of the estimated 820,000 people crossing the border as we go for the weekend to see the Hong Kong Rugby SVNS. Stay tuned for the blog next week.

As always, thank you for reading. Happy Easter from our own personal Easter bunny.