Lo Wu

Lo Wu (in Cantonese; traditional Chinese: 羅湖; simplified Chinese: 罗湖; pinyin: luóhú) is a primary border crossing between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone of the People's Republic of China.

Location

Lo Wu is located at the northernmost part of Hong Kong. It can be accessed by KCR or taking public transportation to Sheung Shui and then taxi.

Land boundary control point

Lo Wu is one of the four important land boundary control points of the Hong Kong SAR. Other control points are Lok Ma Chou, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok. Lo Wu Immigration Control Point operates daily from 6:30am to midnight. During peak hours, holidays and weekends, the waiting time for entry and exits through Lo Wu is shorter than at the other 3 control points because it has the largest visitors' handling capacity. Of all passenger departures (including non-residents) for mainland China, 90% are through the land border control points of Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok, with Lo Wu accounting for 85% of total departures.

Lo Wu is the most popular border crossing for people travelling to mainland China because most of people like to choose to take the KCR which is more convenient compared with other means of transportation. By passing through Lo Wu, one can reach the busiest commercial zone of Shenzhen city in the shortest period of time.

All passengers passing though the boundary control point must fill in the health declaration form before entering to Hong Kong. This measure was announced in March 2003 in order to tackle SARS. It is advisable to fill in the form before entering the arrival hall.

24-hour border crossing

In mid-December 2002, the Hong Kong government announced that the Lok Ma Chou immigration control point shall take the lead for providing round-the-clock passenger service just before Chinese New Year. Vehicles and container trucks are already moving both ways throughout the night at this control point.

However, 24-hour border-crossing at Lo Wu control point is still undergoing vigorous debates mainly arguing about the limited number of passengers at night, costs and noise pollution likely to be created. Kowloon-Canton Railway chairman Michael Tien Puk Sun has once said that it is absolutely impossible to run rail services 24 hours a day because of the difficulties in maintenance. This new policy has both advantages and disadvantages. It is surely a catalyst for China-Hong Kong trade and logistics. However, it may cause some social problems since it eases the way to go from Hong Kong to China. One of the examples is family problem.

Safety problem at land boundary control point

Lo Wu is a forbidden area in Hong Kong. Only the authorized citizens can enter this area. If people need to go to Lo Wu, they have to get an approval from the Hong Kong Police Force. There is no need to get an approval if they just go through Lo Wu to go to Shenzhen.

An incident happened in 2000, involving a boy named Yu Man Hon, who was a mentally disabled teenager missing' at the Lo Wu boundary control point. It was believed that he dashed through the immigration control counter and was wrongly sent to mainland China by the administrative officer. There was much argument on the security control of the boundary control point after the Yu Man Hon incident. But the boy still cannot be found.

Developments in the Lo Wu district

Lo Wu is somewhat famous for shopping because of the low price. This feature is especially important since Hong Kong is currently under a somewhat depressed economic climate. On the other hand, Lo Wu is full of fake products. In there, you can easily find Louis Vuition, CK, Gucci, etc.

Due to its strategic position as a gateway to Hong Kong, the Lo Wu District of Shenzhen has become the focal point of many large companies. That is why the demand for top-grade office buildings there is growing steadily. Many of these companies are foreign companies, like international banks and accounting firms. Meanwhile, the supply of these top-grade office buildings in Lo Wu District has been in shortage. In December 2003, the contstruction of the Loihu Business Centre was completed. The 50-storey building is the new landmark of Lo Wu District and it can cater the demand for top-grade offices.

Because of the integration of China and Hong Kong in terms of economy, it's really a challenge for Hong Kongers to rethink the position of Hong Kong and even Hong Kongers, Lo Wu is a place that symbolizes the mixing for two different cultures or economy and political situation. It is not only a position for us to travel through Hong Kong and China, what is more is that it allows culture integration.

Lo Wu Bridge Improvement Works

Short-term improvement works at the Lo Wu Footbridge, which links Hong Kong and Shenzhen, have been completed according to schedule, giving travelers more convenience on the Spring Festival Peak season.

At a total cost of about 2.3 million HK dollars (295,000 U.S. dollars), the works entail the installation of 72 air-conducting fans to improve ventilation, relocation of railings to widen the main passenger lanes, and replacement of the ceiling and floor tiles.

At a site briefing Friday, Alan Chu, principal assistant secretary for security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), highly praised the full cooperation of the Port Office of the people's government of Shenzhen and concerned parties in Hong Kong.

"We hope that passengers will enjoy the comfort of an improved environment," he said. "Also, with the widening of the main passenger lane, it will help alleviate congestion during peak hours, facilitating the movements of passengers between the two places."

The short-term improvement project in question is an area of cooperation arising from the joint efforts of the Hong Kong and Guangdong governments to enhance boundary crossing facilities.

The project was endorsed at the 4th plenary of the Hong Kong/Guangdong Cooperation Joint Conference held on July 25 last year.

The bridge will also facilitate the rapid increase in passengers when the Lo Wu station of the Shenzhen metro system opens in late 2004.

Crimes in the Lo Wu District

Crimes ranging from homicide, robbery, mugging, as well as stealing are pervading in the Lo Wu District. The most popular two are child trafficking and counterfeit banknotes.

There are some child trafficking gangs in the district. They abduct children aged from there to four near crowded places like vegetable markets and supermarkets. Those abductees will then be sold to various cities in Guangdong, mostly to the farmers there. It is alledged that the problem springs from China's One-child Policy. It is a Chinese tradtion that people rather have a son than a daughter. That's why many families unable to have a son, opt to buy one. Gangsters make use of this to make profit. The kidnapped children are sold for between 1000 Yuan to 10,000 Yuan. In September, 2003, police in south China smashed a child trafficking ring and rescued nine children. Nevertheless, the central government is still being criticized for not paying enough attention to this problem.

Apart from child trafficking, counterfeit banknotes is another serious problem in the district. Dongmen shopping district is alledged to be a black spot for passing fake notes to customers. Hong Kong shoppers were usually the targets of the scam as they were not familiar with the features of yuan notes. Shop owners usually keep only a small amount of fake notes, which is insufficient for a successful prosecution. Even though an employee is caught red-handed, the shop owner will deny all knowledge and blame the individual. That's why it is quite difficult for the authorities to crack down this scam. In October, 2003, about 40 shops in Dongmen shopping district have been shut after they were found passing counterfeit banknotes to customers.

In November, 2003, a '70-day storm operation against crimes' was launched in Lo Wu. It aimed at putting forward improvements in social order of the district.