More than 550,000 Hong Kong residents left the city on the first day of the long weekend, the second-highest daily figure since the lifting of Covid-related travel restrictions.
The numbers underline a growing trend of more Hongkongers crossing the border into mainland China for bargain shopping and leisure activities, posing new challenges for the city’s local retailers and restaurants.
Saturday’s figure of 553,511, provided by the Immigration Department, was less than the 700,808 recorded on March 29 this year, on Good Friday.
The third-highest figure was recorded the previous day, with 525,772 Hongkongers departing for a five-day long weekend holiday if they took the day off work on March 28.
The number of departures at the start of the weekend before the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule significantly exceeded last year’s figure of 364,167 on July 1, a Saturday.
Of the 553,511 who left the city on Saturday, at least 88 per cent – or 489,434 – went to different parts of the mainland via the high-speed railway, ferry or various other land crossings. Among the total, 13,313 headed to Macau and 50,763 left the city by air.
Only 137,691 travelled in the opposite direction into the city on Saturday.
Sunday marked the official opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, designed to cut the journey time between the two mainland cities on either of the Pearl River Delta to 30 minutes from two hours.
In March, Hongkongers made nearly 1.76 million outbound trips during the first three days of the Easter holiday, a stark contrast to the 400,000 inbound trips over the same period.
Cross-border tours to Guangdong, Fujian and Guizhou provinces on the mainland gained in popularity among Hong Kong residents leaving the city over Easter.
