ෂෙන්ජන් - ජොංෂාන් හරස් මුහුදු මාර්ගයට ඉහළ ඉල්ලුමක්

Shenzhen-Zhongshan cross-sea passage thronged with traffic flows

Continuous streams of vehicles are passing through the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, a mega cross-sea passage consisting of one underwater tunnel, two bridges and two artificial islands, on the first weekend after its official opening in south China's Guangdong Province, which is releasing the huge pent-up demand for travels in the once out-of-the-way area.

Spanning 24 kilometers, the megaproject marks one of the most difficult cross-sea cluster projects with 10 world records. It starts at the Shenzhen airport interchange and connects with Ma'anshan Island in Zhongshan across the Pearl River, cutting Shenzhen-Zhongshan travel time from two hours to approximately 30 minutes.

In the early morning of Saturday, a long queue of passengers, who planned to experience the intercity bus service between Shenzhen and Zhongshan, had already lined up at the Qianhai Bay stop, and within a few minutes, all 42 seats of a bus were entirely occupied.

"I'm going to visit my elder sister and take a look at the scenic spots in Zhongshan," said a Shenzhen resident.

"I mainly want to see the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge. It's a mega project with advanced technology. I just want to visit it," said another resident from Shenzhen.

Meanwhile, the launch of the massive road project, which connects the two sides of the Pearl River Delta, has injected vitality into a lot of consumer markets in the surrounding area, particularly tourism and catering industries.

For instance, Happy Harbor scenic area, which is located in the southern coastal area of Shenzhen’s Baoan District, has seen many fully loaded buses with license plates from Zhongshan, Jiangmen and other places.

"Before the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link was available, the journey from Taishan to this place would have taken approximately three hours or more. It's also my first time to come to Shenzhen," said a resident from Taishan within Jiangmen, Guangdong.

The urban area of Zhongshan also experienced a considerable rise in the number of visitors. Numerous vehicles with Shenzhen license plates were observed outside the Museum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

"We made our way here from Shenzhen's Pingshan at around 07:00, right after the opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link. We want to have a firsthand experience by catching up the tide," said a resident from Shenzhen.

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), encompassing Hong Kong, Macao and nine cities in Guangdong, boasts a combined population of over 80 million. It achieved a total economic output of over 14 trillion yuan (around 1.93 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2023.

Before the inauguration of the new link, there were three cross-sea links, but congestion had become a major issue for the transportation of both people and goods in the area.

• Tags:
• featured