HONG KONG - Tourists and curious locals made their maiden journey across the world's longest sea crossing connecting Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland on Wednesday (Oct 24) as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge opened to light traffic at 9am.
Excited passengers and chirpy tour groups gathered in the morning at the Hong Kong bridge port - just east of Hong Kong International Airport - that is connected to the US$20 billion bridge.
Accompanied by a group of friends, Singapore-born Liu Dao Dong, 80, was among those at the Hong Kong port ready for a quick tour.
The retiree, who takes leisure trips to Zhuhai regularly, said he waited nine years for the bridge to be ready.
"I like the bridge because it's more convenient than the ferry. I'm going over to Macau tomorrow. I've not gotten my tickets yet. I need to go and buy the bus ticket today first," Mr Liu said.
Shuttle bus tickets from Hong Kong can be easily bought at the bridge port for HK$65 (S$11) for a one-way day trip or HK$70 for a night one.
The Hong Kong bridge port is where local immigration and customs are stationed. It connects to a 12km link road, followed by a 6.7km sub-sea tunnel in one of the busiest waterways of the world , a 22.9km main bridge and a 13.4km link road connected to another port that houses immigration and customs officers for Zhuhai and Macau.
Officials have repeatedly said that the new bridge would cut travelling time from Hong Kong International Airport to Zhuhai, a southern Chinese city in the Greater Bay Area, from four hours to 45 minutes.
The Straits Times writer took the shuttle bus from Hong Kong Port and arrived in Macau in 35 minutes, cleared both the Macau and Zhuhai immigration smoothly after a tour, bought a 58 yuan (S$11.50) bus ticket for a 40-minute ride from Zhuhai back to Hong Kong Port.
Traffic was smooth even though the shuttle buses were travelling at between 64kmh and 76kmh - much slower than the 100kmh limit.
Shanghainese tourists Gu Ding Hong, 56, and his wife Xu Xiao Qing, 54, said they are "happy to be able to experience crossing the bridge on the first day of its opening" after hearing so much about it.
"We're on a free and easy trip and in the past we took the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau but this time we wanted to use the bridge instead," said Madam Xu.
The bridge is a boon to those who dislike taking ferries.
Madam Pan Rui Yi, a 50-year-old Dongguan native, said: "I don't like to take the ferry because I grew up on a boat. So I took the day off with my son and we drove 2½ hours from Dongguan to Zhuhai to take the bus, all in the name of crossing this bridge to get to Hong Kong."
Others like British tourist Kathryn Board, 55, were excited and slightly nervous at the same time. "I guess I'm a little anxious about the underwater bit but I'm sure all the engineers have made it safe."
The new 55km bridge took nine years to build and overran its budget after a two-year delay to its opening.
Hongkonger Poon Kang Chiu, 72, felt the bridge was "built for the mainlanders, not for Hongkongers".
This, as it is more convenient for the mainlanders to get to Hong Kong, he said.
"I'm a little bit angry because the money used to build the bridge comes from taxpayers. The construction cost is too high, billions of dollars. Hong Kong's portion of the bridge is very short, the rest is more the mainland," Mr Chiu explained.
But Hong Kong-born Canadian James Lui, 63, disagreed with critics who say the bridge is a white elephant and too costly. He said: "Since Hong Kong belongs to China why is this an issue? This bridge is an infrastructure and in the long run it complements the entire Greater Bay Area so it's not just about now... Right now, everything that's new will need investments. But in the long run, I think it will definitely be money well spent."
The mega bridge is a central plank in the development of the Greater Bay Area comprising nine Chinese cities, Hong Kong and Macau to rival bay areas in San Francisco, Tokyo and New York.
The idea is to create a single market by capitalising on the bay area's expertise in infrastructure, finance, manufacturing and technology by reducing trade barriers to promote cross-border business.
