Friends who have been to Hong Kong will definitely be very interested in hong Kong's undersea tunnels. There are a total of three undersea tunnels in Hong Kong, because Hong Kong Island is separated from the Kowloon Peninsula, and Hong Kong has been reluctant to build bridges for the sake of urban planning, so it has built three submarine tunnels.
Hong Kong has a population of more than 7 million, and almost every household has a private car, and many companies in Hong Kong are concentrated in the Central area, so every day when it comes to rush hour, the undersea tunnel will be full of cars. Among the three undersea tunnels, the most famous is the Hung Hom Undersea Tunnel. This tunnel, with one end in Hung Hom in Hong Kong and the other in Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, is arguably the best tunnel and the earliest tunnel built in Hong Kong.
In 1972, Ship King Bao Yugang invested more than 300 million yuan to build this submarine tunnel. In fact, at that time, Bao Yugang invested in this tunnel, not more to make money. Because at that time, investing more than 300 million yuan was a lot of money. In 1978, Li Ka-shing's Yangtze River Group had a market capitalization of just over 600 million. In 1972, Li Ka-shing's Yangtze River Group was listed, with a market value of more than 100 million. In other words, Bao Yugang invested more than 300 million yuan at that time and could already acquire two Yangtze River Groups.
So why did Bao Yugang invest in this tunnel? Because at that time, Bao Yugang was already the king of Hong Kong and the most influential ship king in the world. Bao Yugang believes that the shipping industry is beginning to decline, so he has a new idea to invest in other businesses and reduce investment in the shipping industry.
At the same time, Bao Yugang's construction of this tunnel is also more in the hope of promoting the development of society. Because when the tunnel was built, Bao Yugang agreed with Hong Kong that they would have the right to operate for 40 years, and after 40 years, the operation right and ownership of the Hung Hom Tunnel would be handed over free of charge.
Bao Yugang began to build this tunnel in 1969, which took 3 years to open to traffic, that is to say, Bao Yugang had 37 years left in the charging period, according to the car ownership in Hong Kong at that time, Bao Yugang was expected to take more than ten years to recover the cost.
If you follow the initial calculations, in fact, Bao Yugang's more than 300 million is basically half of the public welfare. At that time, the Hong Kong stock market, the rapid development of the property market, Bao Yugang casually invested in other, more than 300 million years have to earn more than 10 times, the result of building a tunnel, more than ten years can only recover the cost, the key is more than ten years is only to recover the cost, the remaining 20 years is slowly making money, if you count inflation, Bao Yugang This investment is a big loss.
In 1972, when the Hung Hom Undersea Tunnel was completed, Bao Yugang listened to the words of a fortune teller and asked a blessed person to cut it, so Bao Yugang invited Shen Dianxia to cut the ribbon. On that day, Shen Dianxia personally cut it, and at the same time drove a convertible sports car to be the first to pass through the tunnel.
Interestingly, halfway through the drive, the car suddenly broke down and stopped inside the tunnel, and Hong Kong people thought that this was a sign of great luck, and the tunnel must often be stuck in traffic in the future, and Bao Yugang must have made a lot of money. Curiously, in 1972, the Hong Kong stock market exploded, which was called the era of fish and rice in Hong Kong.
At that time, many people made a lot of money, cars were the exclusive property of rich people before, and as a result, many ordinary people made money from stock speculation and began to buy cars, and cars in Hong Kong began to increase. At the same time, Hong Kong's economy has continued to develop for the better, and automobile consumption has begun to heat up.
After the opening of the Hung Hom Undersea Tunnel in 1972, Hong Kong cars really continued to grow, which Bao Yugang could not have imagined. In just 3 years, Bao Yugang successfully recovered the cost. In the following 30 years, the Hung Hom Undersea Tunnel became the main artery of Hong Kong's traffic, the daily traffic flow was very large, and Pao Yugang also made a lot of money.
Two more tunnels were built in Hong Kong, but they still could not alleviate the traffic flow in Hung Hom. After Pao's death in 1991, the Pao family continued to operate the Hung Hom Undersea Tunnel for 8 years, and in 1999 the Pao family handed over the management rights and ownership to Hong Kong, ending a 40-year operating cycle. The Bao Yugang family also earned tens of billions of dollars through this tunnel, far exceeding the expectations of that year.
There are only two people in Hong Kong who do not need to pay money to cross the tunnel, the first one is Shen Dianxia. Because Shen Dianxia's ribbon cutting brought good luck to Bao Yugang, shen Dianxia did not need to pay money to cross the tunnel later. The second is Hong Kong's first Olympic gold medalist, Li Lishan.
Including Bao Yugang himself, or the Governor of Hong Kong, they must give money to cross the tunnel. In fact, there is another interesting thing about the Hong Kong Tunnel. In the 1980s, Hong Kong began to build a second tunnel, and the project was eventually acquired by the mainland rich Man Rong Zhijian, who had just risen in Hong Kong at that time.
Rong Zhijian's father was not a simple person, when he went to Hong Kong to do business and became the founder of Hong Kong CITIC, because Rong zhi fitness was special, so Li Ka-shing and others took good care of Rong Zhijian at that time. With the help of Li Ka-shing and others, Rong Zhijian's business in Hong Kong has developed very quickly.
Later, Rong Zhijian successfully won the East District Submarine Tunnel. Rong Zhijian also wants to build a tunnel like Bao Yugang to make a lot of money. Originally, Hong Kong was planning to build a bridge, but because Kai Tak Airport was next to it, in order not to affect the take-off and landing of aircraft, the bridge eventually became a tunnel.
Rong Zhijian invested heavily in the construction of the Eastern District Submarine Tunnel. In 1986, the tunnel was opened to traffic, because of Shen Dianxia's past, so Rong Zhijian also wanted to ask a big person to cut, after many efforts, rong Zhijian finally invited Diana to cut the ribbon. However, later, the East District Undersea Tunnel was too expensive and the location was too remote, and it did not make any money.
Later, many Hong Kong people thought that Rong Zhijian was wrong to invite guests, because Diana herself later died in a car accident in the tunnel. Now that Bao Yugang has passed away, Rong Zhijian is now older, and these things have become adults. However, from 1972, Bao Yugang had the strength to invest more than 300 million yuan in the undersea tunnel, which can also be seen that he is definitely the richest man in the Chinese world, and it is no wonder that even Li Ka-shing was promoted by him.