Li Jing

    AT midnight on July 1, 1997, 400 military vehicles loaded with 3,000 soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China rolled in rain through Shenzhen’s Huanggang Checkpoint towards Hong Kong. At 5:45 p.m., the first vehicle went across the boundary line between the two cities on Huanggang-Lok Ma Chau Bridge over the Shenzhen River. For the first time a PLA flag was hoisted in the Hong Kong territory, ending its 156 years of British rule.

    The historical moment left an indelible memory on every mainlander and Hong Konger. What laid on either side of the border was mysterious to many on both sides. Crossing over was time-consuming at best and not possible for most. Eleven years later, making that crossing is easy and convenient.

    Hong Kong resident Miao Bo, a teacher at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, commutes to work each day through the Huanggang Checkpoint from Shenzhen.

    He leaves his two-bedroom rental apartment in a community a short walk from the checkpoint at about 7 each morning.

    “It takes me five minutes to cross through the checkpoint and another half-hour shuttle-bus drive to my campus,” Miao said.

    He spends less than an hour shuttling between the two cities, an unimaginably short commute for residents in large cities such as Beijing and Shanghai where two- and three-hour trips within the same city aren’t unusual.

    Miao said living in Shenzhen saves him a lot of money, and he feels life here is every bit as good as it is in Hong Kong.

    “I rent my Shenzhen apartment for less than 3,000 yuan (US$429), which is out of the question in Hong Kong,” he said.

    “We speak the same language, watch the same TV programs and share the same cuisine,” Miao said. “I enjoy living here.”

    A half century ago, it was simple to cross the Shenzhen River. Before 1951, documentation wasn’t required to cross the Hong Kong-mainland border. But then the Guangdong Provincial Government began to curb border crossings as political tensions rose on both sides. The door to Hong Kong was shut tight for ordinary mainlanders, who couldn’t get an entry permit unless they had family members there or were on a government-authorized business trip. Few Hong Kongers had an interest in visiting the mainland, which was poor and under a strict political system.

    Border security was extremely stringent, targeting illegal immigration and sabotage. Manned sentry boxes lined the border and each passenger had to go through arduous formalities. Each article of luggage was opened and checked, and the crossing normally took more than three hours.

    Despite those efforts, the border remained porous. Official statistics show that before China launched its reform and opening policy in 1979, about 60,000 mainlanders entered Hong Kong illegally to seek a better life.

    But Hong Kong’s return to the mainland and China’s increasing prosperity made a huge difference.

    Nowadays, hundreds of millions of people shuttle between the two cities since China launched the Individual Visit Scheme to Hong Kong and Macao in July 2003, benefiting residents of 49 mainland cities.

    The Luohu Checkpoint was the first to open in Shenzhen in 1986 and is now China’s busiest passenger port. The checkpoint now handles 170,000 entries and exits each day, and on weekends the figure jumps to 250,000.

    Today, it’s vogue for Hong Kong people to work and live in inland cities. In general, they are more optimistic about their career prospects on the mainland. Statistics show that at least 300,000 Hong Kong residents work and live inland. More than 85 percent of Hong Kong residents working inland are concentrated in a few cities in Guangdong Province, predominantly Shenzhen and Dongguan.

    Hong Kong resident Zhang Yu moved here to teach at a middle school after graduating. Her parents often travel between Shenzhen and Hong Kong on business, and some of her friends and relatives also work here. Although her monthly salary is less than 10,000 yuan, she is content. “I think salaries in Shenzhen are a bit lower than in Hong Kong, but so is the cost of living, so it evens out,” Zhang said. “Anyway, I love my job.” Zhang often comes back to Hong Kong to see her relatives and friends on summer and winter vacations.

    Each morning Maggin, 11, wakes up at 6 in her house on Cuizhu Road in Luohu District. At 6:40 she boards a school bus to Luohu Checkpoint, where she crosses into Hong Kong. At 7:40 she arrives at her school in Sheung Shui, and starts her first class at 8:10. She returns to the checkpoint at around 4 p.m., from where her mother picks her up and takes her home.

    The daughter of a Hong Kong businessman, Maggin has been on this routine for the past two years. Maggin has a Hong Kong residence permit and is one of 5,500 Hong Kong children living in Shenzhen who commute daily to attend Hong Kong schools. It is a growing trend as more Hong Kong families move to Shenzhen after purchasing apartments in the city.

    Most of these children have a Hong Kong father and a mainland mother who has yet to receive her Hong Kong residence permit. Some of the parents are Hong Kong residents who live in Shenzhen to look after businesses here.

    “I like studying in Shenzhen because the school is spacious,” Deng Yixun, a Hong Kong student studying at a Luohu school. Deng has been studying in Shenzhen since he was 13.

    “When I first came to Shenzhen in 2003, I thought the city was inferior to Hong Kong in public sanitation and security, and people were not hospitable to strangers when they asked directions,” said Deng. “Now I have many friends here and know every corner of the city,” said Deng, who spends his weekends in Hong Kong.

    “My friends often ask me to bring something for them every Sunday when I return to school. Every time I bring many Tempo napkins,” he said, then added with a smile, “I hope the customs officials don’t suspect me of trafficking in napkins.”