Visa & Transport to China from Hong Kong

Crossing the border to Mainland China puts you in Shenzhen, a well-developed boomtown. (Note that there are special visa regulations if you plan to visit Shenzhen.)

There are 4 checkpoints on the Hong Kong - Shenzhen boundary, namely Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok.

Lo Wu control point can only be accessed directly by KCR East Rail trains and is hence the most accessible. However, it is often congested with travellers during weekends and holidays. So if you want to avoid for the long queues, use the other control points on holidays. Visa-on-arrival can be obtained on the Chinese side.

Lok Ma Chau control point can be accessed from Kowloon by taking the KCR West Rail. Leave at Long Ping Station and take the bus route 277 at the bus interchange. At Lok Ma Chau, you must switch to a yellow shuttle bus, which takes you across the boundary. A faster approach is to alight at Kam Sheung Road Station and interchange with a cross boundary coach, which takes you to the Chinese side of checkpoint without interchanging with the shuttle bus.

Alternatively, there are also some Cross Boundary coaches operating from the business districts in Kowloon or Hong Kong Island to the Chinese side of the checkpoint. If you take these coaches, there is no need to change for the yellow shuttle bus and hence it is a good choice for boundary crossing to avoid the queues.

Lok Ma Chau is a around-the-clock border crossing ; visa-on-arrival can be obtained on the Chinese side (subject to nationality, currently, applications from USA and UK passport holders are not accepted).

Man Kam To control point can be accessed by taking the cross-boundary coach on the bus interchange at Landmark North, which is just adjacent to Sheung Shui KCR Station. The 15-minute journey costs HK$22. It is seldom crowded with travellers, even during holiday periods. You can also enjoy the free shuttle service outside the Chinese checkpoint, which takes you to the central area of Shenzhen. However, no Visa-on-arrival can be obtained on the Chinese side, which means you need to arrange for your visa in advanced before arrival.

Sha Tau Kok control point can be accessed by taking the cross-boundary coach on the bus interchange at Luen Wo Hui in Fanling. It connects the eastern boundary of Hong Kong and Shenzhen and it is a bit remote from the central part on Shenzhen. As a consequence, only very few passengers choose to cross the boundary using this checkpoint. No Visa-on-arrival can be obtained on the Chinese side.