The Hong Kong Tourism Board’s special advisory covering the Chinese New Year period (15–23 February 2026) expired today, with cross-boundary transportation and attraction opening hours returning to normal on 24 February. The advisory—updated throughout the holiday—provided extended operating schedules for major immigration control points and warned visitors to expect longer queues at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and Lo Wu checkpoints. Preliminary Immigration Department data indicate that passenger flows from 13 to 23 February reached 10.8 million, 14 % higher than last year, validating earlier forecasts of record traffic. Thanks to staggered staffing and the deployment of additional e-gates, average wait times at peak hours were kept below 25 minutes—well inside the department’s 30-minute service pledge. With the holiday window closed, airlines have begun scaling back additional intra-Asia frequencies, and the MTR Corporation confirmed that cross-border high-speed rail services will revert to off-peak timetables from 26 February. Mobility planners should note that visa-application centres and foreign consulates which curtailed services over the break resume full operations today, though backlogs may persist for several days.
![Chinese New Year travel advisory ends as Hong Kong resumes normal border hours]()
For travellers who still need to organise entry permits for Hong Kong or onward journeys around the region, VisaHQ can handle the paperwork end-to-end. Its dedicated Hong Kong page (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) lets users check real-time requirements, submit digital applications and arrange courier delivery of passports, helping corporate mobility teams navigate any lingering post-holiday backlogs smoothly.
Travel-risk consultants advise that a brief post-holiday congestion spike is likely as mainland visitors continue shopping trips ahead of Lantern Festival on 2 March. Corporate travellers heading to Shenzhen should continue to book train tickets in advance and allow buffer time at ports of entry.
For travellers who still need to organise entry permits for Hong Kong or onward journeys around the region, VisaHQ can handle the paperwork end-to-end. Its dedicated Hong Kong page (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) lets users check real-time requirements, submit digital applications and arrange courier delivery of passports, helping corporate mobility teams navigate any lingering post-holiday backlogs smoothly.
Travel-risk consultants advise that a brief post-holiday congestion spike is likely as mainland visitors continue shopping trips ahead of Lantern Festival on 2 March. Corporate travellers heading to Shenzhen should continue to book train tickets in advance and allow buffer time at ports of entry.
