People in the Greater Bay Area, do you feel this way?
Hong Kong cars and Macao cars are now popular to "go north". Driving to the Pearl River Delta to visit relatives, sigh food, and seek business opportunities has become a new fashion in Hong Kong and Macao.
Mainland friends often organize groups to watch performances in Hong Kong and Macao and buy trendy brands.
During the "Super Golden Week" earlier this month, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area became a popular tourist destination in China. As the only designated port of passage for "Hong Kong cars going north" and "Macao cars going north", the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge also set a new record for the number of bus clearances in a single day.
The wheel momentum follows the sky, and the bridge is shaped across the sea. Five years ago, on October 23, this "super project", which took six years of preparation and nine years of construction, was officially opened. Five years later, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has brought families in the Greater Bay Area closer and closer, and their feelings have become deeper and deeper.
Driving on the 55-kilometer-long bridge, the sea breeze blows, the herons in the sky play, the dolphins in the water rejoice, and looking back at the years when this "Bay Area dragon" has emerged from scratch and has been excellent, the blood is still rushing.
What kind of bridge is the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge? I believe you already have the answer.
On the afternoon of October 23, 2023, the truck entered Guangdong through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Photo by Nanfang + reporter Qian Wenpan
01
It's a bridge to dreams.
"If a cross-sea bridge is built at the mouth of the Pearl River that crosses the Lingding Ocean and connects the east and west banks of the Pearl River, it can open up the outlet for manufacturing on the west bank of the Pearl River, and also allow Hong Kong's thriving commerce to radiate here."
In 1983, Hong Kong patriot and investor Hu Yingxiang first proposed the idea of building a bridge across the Pearl River Estuary connecting Hong Kong and Zhuhai. In his view, "what people (the United States) can build, we can also build."
Five years later, in Zhuhai, which is across the sea from Hong Kong, the then municipal party committee and government decided to "open up the channel to the outside world and build a Lingdingyang Bridge connecting Zhuhai and Hong Kong", and under the leadership of Liang Guangguang, then secretary of the Zhuhai Municipal Party Committee, the planning of the Lingdingyang Bridge was completed.
However, these ideas or plans have been put on hold for various reasons. Until 2002, with the economic rise of the mainland and the return of Hong Kong and Macao, the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge became the common vision of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. In April 2004, the Office of the Coordination Group for the Preliminary Work of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge was formally established.
From the conception of construction to the full start of the preliminary work, from the official start of construction to the full opening of the bridge, 35 years have passed. After the bridge was opened to traffic, Hu Yingxiang, who was in his eighties, sighed: "Without today's China, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will always be a dream. ”
At that time, the realization of dreams gave wings to bigger dreams.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Zhuhai Highway Port is crowded. Photo by Nanfang + reporter Qian Wenpan
02
It is a concentric bridge.
On October 2, the number of inbound and outbound vehicles of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge exceeded 14,000 for the first time, setting a new record since the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.
Among them, "Macao car going north" and "Hong Kong car going north" have become the main force of customs clearance at ports. According to the data, more than 220,000 Hong Kong tourists entered and exited through the Zhuhai Highway Port during the "Double Festival" holiday, and more than 16,000 single-plate vehicles in Hong Kong.
This year, the "Northbound Policy" for Hong Kong and Macao single-plate vehicles has been implemented one after another, providing another option for the "twin city life" of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Guangdong and Macao, and narrowing the distance between the hearts and minds of residents in the three places.
"The customs clearance efficiency of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is very high!" Mr. Fu, a Macao resident, often travels to Zhuhai with friends on weekends.
"The 'Hong Kong Car Northbound' was opened, and I arrived at my hometown with one foot of the accelerator." Some Hong Kong citizens said that on holidays, a family of five drives back to Zhongshan to visit relatives, saving time and money.
In this context, since the beginning of this year, more than 7.021 million Hong Kong and Macao residents have entered and exited through the Zhuhai Highway Port, 1.7 times more than in 2019.
Behind the constantly refreshing figures, in addition to the gradually relaxed bridge traffic policy, there is also a customs clearance policy that keeps pace with the times.
Before the opening of the bridge, the port inspection mode of "three places and three inspections" solved the complex problems brought about by "one country, two systems and three places".
After the official opening, various customs clearance reform policies have given new vitality to interconnection. Passenger cars and trucks entering and exiting the highway port of the bridge only need to "stop the car once and submit information once" throughout the whole process; The toll station of the bridge implements "cloud inspection and release" for the transportation vehicles supplying the port to improve the traffic efficiency of the transportation vehicles supplying the port...
Taking the aquatic products industry as an example, in the past, it took 6-7 hours to clear customs from Zhuhai to Shenzhen via the Humen Bridge; Now, it only takes about an hour to take the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to Hong Kong.
This new economic and trade channel has brought many new opportunities for cross-border logistics and cross-border trade.
As of October this year, the total value of import and export goods through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Zhuhai Highway Port in the past five years has exceeded 700 billion yuan. At present, the sending and receiving of import and export goods at Zhuhai Highway Port has achieved full coverage of 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the number of countries (regions) involved in the market has increased from 105 in 2018 to 239.
Soft and hard connection, three places are concentric.
"Supporting the integration of Hong Kong and Macao into the overall development of the country" has become more and more concrete here.
On October 23, Hong Kong drivers used the "one-stop" channel to drive through customs. Source: Xinhua News Agency
03
It's a bridge of confidence.
In 2015, the British "Guardian" selected the "Seven Wonders of the Modern World" from the world's buildings that are about to be completed, setting more than 400 new patents and 7 of the world's largest Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.
This "bridge of confidence" can be called the pinnacle of the history of bridge construction in the world. It is the longest overall span and the longest steel structure bridge in the world today, and it is also the first super-large cross-sea traffic project jointly built by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao under the framework of "one country, two systems".
Self-confidence comes from the courage to enter the "no man's land" during construction.
Back then, the nearly 7,000-meter offshore immersed tunnel was a mountain that was difficult to cross. In the face of the "stuck neck" and the doubts of the outside world, all the builders started from scratch, successively overcame world-class problems such as deep water deep troughs, strong siltation, and large runoff, and successfully connected 33 sections of reinforced concrete immersed pipes at a depth of 50 meters under the Lingding Ocean. Behind every number are the countless ultimate explorations of more than 2,000 builders.
△High burning! CG restores the construction process of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge
Self-confidence comes from innovation in management.
Multiple winds in the South China Sea have brought certain challenges to the operation and maintenance of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Through "5G + Beidou + sensor + edge computing technology", the staff can collect wind speed and bridge vibration in real time for monitoring and early warning.
In daily operation and maintenance, the staff will also use unmanned ships and drones to help the bridge do "physical examination", effectively improving monitoring efficiency and reducing personnel safety risks.
This "Chinese business card" has won countless international reputations. For example, in 2020, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge won the "Super Engineering Award" of the 37th International Bridge Conference (IBC) for its outstanding achievements in technological innovation, material innovation, aesthetic value, environmental protection and social effects.
Today, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has become a learning place for many foreign delegations, who have truly seen China's infrastructure capabilities and technological level. "The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge reflects China's focus on innovation and sets an example for the world."
Longteng Bay area, standing tall in the world.
Netizens photographed the artificial island west of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the extended bridge from the air.
04
It is a revival bridge.
On the Qingzhou Channel Bridge, the tallest tower of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the "Chinese knot" pattern left a deep impression on people. This special "Easter egg" carries the expectations of countless Chinese people: the three places will jointly create a bright future for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
If the road is connected, the people are connected, and the people are connected. This "golden channel" will string key cities into a chain and "pave the way" for the construction of the Greater Bay Area.
This year, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has ushered in another major opportunity and has been given a new mission - to move towards "the strategic fulcrum of the new development pattern, the demonstration place of high-quality development, and the leading place of Chinese-style modernization".
Taking the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge as a model, the comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network of the Greater Bay Area is becoming more and more dense——
Huangpu Bridge, Nansha Bridge, Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Railway, etc. stand tall on the sea, the construction of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Passage and the Shiziyang Passage has been accelerated, the trunk railway, intercity railway, urban rail transit, tram "four networks integration", the layout of world-class airport groups has been further improved...
The "hard connection" of infrastructure is accelerating, and the "soft connection" of the rules and mechanisms is also deepening.
In April this year, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao jointly announced 110 "Bay Area Standards" in Shenzhen, covering 25 areas such as food safety, transportation, education and healthcare, and cross-border e-commerce, to promote the interconnection of the Greater Bay Area with standard "soft connectivity".
The construction of major cooperation platforms continues to advance, adding a new engine for high-quality development——
In just two years, the major platforms in the Greater Bay Area have been "expanded" one after another, with Hengqin, Qianhai, Nansha and Hetao working together to show their strengths.
"Bridge" sees the future, the bay has gravity, and the scenery is infinite.
Written by: Topical researchers: Gu Jiman, Li He, Yuan Peiru, Xiao Wenge
Planning | Hu Liangguang Zhang Mengyuan
Source: Nanfang Daily