Hong Kong records 13% rise in mainland Chinese visitors on day 1 of ‘golden week’

Hong Kong recorded a 13 per cent year-on-year increase in mainland Chinese visitors on the first day of the “golden week” Labour Day holiday, with more than 300,000 inbound trips made throughout the day. Meanwhile, the number of Hongkongers leaving the city on Friday also surged by 45 per cent compared with last year, reaching more than 430,000 outbound journeys. Immigration statistics on Saturday showed 1.32 million cross-border trips were made on the first of the mainland’s five-day holiday, of which 300,466 were inbound visits. Mainland visitors accounted for 251,212 of all inbound arrivals, a 13 per cent increase compared with the 221,758 recorded last year. At the same time, the city recorded 667,124 outbound trips, of which 430,862, or about 65 per cent, were Hongkongers leaving the city. The number of outbound Hongkongers was up 45 per cent from the 296,273 recorded on May 1 a year ago, which fell on a Thursday. Labour Day is a statutory public holiday in Hong Kong and marks the start of the mainland’s five-day break from May 1 to 5. Overall, the city recorded a net outflow of 31,652 people on Friday. Lo Wu and the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line were the busiest checkpoints on Friday, recording 256,014 and 242,641 cross-border trips, respectively. Shenzhen Bay handled 184,244 arrivals and departures, while Hong Kong International Airport logged 142,351. Hong Kong’s border checkpoints remained busy on Saturday, logging about 79,679 mainland arrivals as of 10am, up about 5 per cent from the 76,056 who had arrived in the city at the same time a day earlier. Meanwhile, only 59,713 Hongkongers were recorded as departing the city on Saturday morning, about half the number who had left by the same time on Friday. The hundreds of thousands of mainland visitors who arrived in Hong Kong yesterday fanned out across the city, with some heading for the countryside for scenic views and others opting for “city walks” to explore picturesque locales. The High Island Reservoir East Dam in Sai Kung was packed with thousands of tourists, many from the mainland, drawn by its natural scenery. The site has become a hotspot among mainland visitors after being promoted on various social media platforms. On the Chinese social media platform RedNote, one user asked, “Would you go crazy if you went to Hong Kong for the May 1 holidays?” The post attracted over 1,300 comments, with some saying queues at border controls lasted for hours, while others noted that conditions improved once inside the city. Another photo that went viral featured huge crowds at a land border, with one user commenting that “it was too tiring to spend an hour simply to cross the border”. Some social media users compared Hong Kong with other mainland cities. “The streets and buildings looked old. Payment methods are also not convenient. The Victoria Harbour views are not as spectacular as Chongqing,” one wrote. Others said the city was not as attractive as neighbouring Zhuhai and Macau. Unlike the Chinese New Year holiday in February, when mainland visitors enjoyed a nine-day break, the West Kowloon terminus was less crowded this time, with fewer travellers carrying large suitcases. Groups of relatively young visitors travelled light, planning day trips before heading back across the border in the evening. The government had earlier said it anticipated about 980,000 mainland visitors during the holiday period, representing a 7 per cent year-on-year increase from last year. Additional reporting by Ambrose Li