With less than a week until the Mainland’s Chinese New Year Golden Week (15-23 February), Hong Kong authorities have unveiled a detailed traffic-and-immigration plan to manage an expected 1.43 million Mainland visitors and 2,200 tour groups.
According to a 9 February briefing chaired by Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki, departments will keep all six land boundary control points open at their normal (or 24-hour) schedules, while the MTR’s East Rail Line and most urban lines will run overnight on peak festive dates. Shuttle-bus frequencies on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and Lok Ma Chau routes will increase to as little as one minute, and special connecting bus services will operate after rail hours.
Front-line immigration, customs and police leave has been frozen to allow extra counters and crowd-control barriers. Technology plays a role too: the “Easy Boundary” mobile site will publish live wait-times so travellers—and corporate travel managers—can choose the quickest checkpoint.
![Hong Kong maps crowd and border-control playbook for Mainland Chinese New Year rush]()
If your team needs quick, reliable visa support amid the holiday rush, VisaHQ’s Hong Kong portal (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) provides real-time entry requirements, online applications and concierge assistance—making cross-border planning smoother for both individual travellers and corporate mobility departments.
Tour operators have been told to stagger arrival times, while police will crack down on taxi over-charging near tourist hotspots. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department will even deploy staff and webcams at popular hiking areas to prevent overcrowding as Mainland tourists look beyond shopping.
For HR and global-mobility teams moving staff between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the headline is clear: expect record volumes but smoother processing if travellers use less-busy ports or cross outside the traditional 10 a.m.–2 p.m. peaks. Companies should pre-book cross-border coaches, advise employees about extended MTR schedules and flag that Lo Wu will still close at 2 a.m., unlike the 24-hour Shenzhen Bay facility.
According to a 9 February briefing chaired by Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki, departments will keep all six land boundary control points open at their normal (or 24-hour) schedules, while the MTR’s East Rail Line and most urban lines will run overnight on peak festive dates. Shuttle-bus frequencies on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and Lok Ma Chau routes will increase to as little as one minute, and special connecting bus services will operate after rail hours.
Front-line immigration, customs and police leave has been frozen to allow extra counters and crowd-control barriers. Technology plays a role too: the “Easy Boundary” mobile site will publish live wait-times so travellers—and corporate travel managers—can choose the quickest checkpoint.
If your team needs quick, reliable visa support amid the holiday rush, VisaHQ’s Hong Kong portal (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) provides real-time entry requirements, online applications and concierge assistance—making cross-border planning smoother for both individual travellers and corporate mobility departments.
Tour operators have been told to stagger arrival times, while police will crack down on taxi over-charging near tourist hotspots. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department will even deploy staff and webcams at popular hiking areas to prevent overcrowding as Mainland tourists look beyond shopping.
For HR and global-mobility teams moving staff between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the headline is clear: expect record volumes but smoother processing if travellers use less-busy ports or cross outside the traditional 10 a.m.–2 p.m. peaks. Companies should pre-book cross-border coaches, advise employees about extended MTR schedules and flag that Lo Wu will still close at 2 a.m., unlike the 24-hour Shenzhen Bay facility.
