Standing in Macau and looking at Hengqin, there are many high-rise buildings on the financial island. Photo courtesy of Liu Yuhan
The sea breeze swept by, the blue waves of the Tianmu River rippled, and the 27 white high-rise buildings in the "Macao New Neighborhood" in Hengqin on the north bank of the river were particularly eye-catching. This is the first comprehensive livelihood project in mainland China specially designed for Macao residents, integrating residential, educational, elderly care and medical functions.
Walking into the "Macau New Neighborhood", you will meet Macao people who come to see the house from time to time. On the last day of 2023, Deng Yuhao went to Hengqin with his parents to see the house, and "I didn't hesitate to buy it on the same day."
Environment, price, distance and living comfort are the main factors that attract them to buy a home.
With a total area of less than 33 square kilometres, Macao is home to more than 680,000 people, making it one of the most densely populated regions in the world.
"Our house in Macau was too crowded. The son is not married yet, and the house is a big problem. Deng Yuhao's mother said, "Parents are thinking about their children. ”
Deng Yuhao bought a two-bedroom apartment of 890 square meters in Hengqin, with a total price of about 2.5 million yuan. Their previous house in Macau was only more than 30 square meters, and now it can be sold for more than 3 million Hong Kong dollars (Macau housing transactions are settled in Hong Kong dollars).
"Housing prices here are cheaper than in Macau, and in the future, there will be community service centers, health stations, schools, elderly service centers and shops that are in line with Macau's standards. Moving from Macau to Hengqin, the lifestyle has not changed, but the quality of life has improved significantly. In order to integrate into Hengqin in advance, every time I came to go through the procedures, Deng Yuhao's family would take a walk in Hengqin.
Hengqin is separated from Macao by a river, the closest point, only 187 meters, the total area is three times that of Macao. As Hengqin and Macao get closer and closer, many Macao people have set their sights on Hengqin.
Yin Fei, an instructor of the No. 7 team on duty at the Hengqin Border Inspection Station, has been working at the port for 19 years and has witnessed more and more Macao people entering Hengqin.
Hengqin "Macao New Neighborhood", Deng Yuhao, a young man from Macao who came to get the real estate certificate. Photo/Southern Weekly reporter Wang Hang
2024:
New Hengqin and Macau "like the same city"
As usual, at around 6 p.m., Chan Wai Leung, a Macao resident working in Hengqin, drove into Macao through the joint one-stop lane for passenger and truck vehicles at the port. In the setting sun, Chan drove across the Lotus Bridge and arrived at his home in Taipa before dinner.
At about the same time, Chen Youlan, who had bought a house in Hengqin for more than ten years, returned from Macao and waited for the bus to go to Hengqin Shangcun at the bus stop on the south side of the port. Chen Youlan's satchel contains cooked meat and fruits bought from Macao, which are the new "benefits" brought to her by the operation of Hengqin's customs closure.
The road between Hengqin and Macao, Deng Yuhao will often go in the future. After the opening of the Hengqin Line, the extension of the Macao Light Rail Rapid Transit (LRT), he will be able to take the LRT directly to Studio City, where he works.
At 15 o'clock on April 9, 2024, the Hengqin Port passenger and truck joint one-stop lane with the personnel inspection and release hall was officially opened, and the passengers who took non-operating small passenger cars with 9 seats (inclusive) or less can clear customs from the inspection and release hall of the accompanying personnel.
This news made Chen Weiliang, who travels back and forth between Hengqin and Macao every day, very happy.
"In the past, when I took my family through the customs, the elderly and children could pass through the customs with the car, but my wife had to go around the passenger inspection hall in a big circle. After passing the customs, I had to drive around to the exit to pick her up. Chen Weiliang told Southern Weekend, "Now the inspection and release hall of the accompanying personnel is next to the driveway, and when I almost pass the customs, she can get out of the car and go through the inspection." There is basically no time lag in between. ”
Chan Wai Leong is the Deputy Director of the Guangdong Office of the General Association of Neighborhood Associations of Macau. In 2019, the Macau Neighborhood Association settled in Hengqin to provide Macao-style elderly care services for Macao residents living here. Chen Weiliang's office has also been moved to Hengqin.
The new customs clearance building of Hengqin Port will be officially put into use in 2020. Photo/Southern Weekly reporter Wang Hang
Located at the head of the Lotus Bridge, the new customs clearance building of Hengqin Port is solemn and imposing, flanked by four skyscrapers more than 100 meters high. Opposite the port, the Legendale Pandu Square, which is full of Portuguese style, has become a new "Internet celebrity check-in point" in Hengqin.
But just twenty years ago, it was a barren meadow.
In 2005, Yin Fei, who had just completed his police training, was assigned to work at Hengqin Port. Sitting on the bus to the Hengqin border inspection station, in the long drive of more than 40 minutes, seeing the cars getting more and more deserted, and the number of high-rise buildings and people becoming fewer and fewer, Yin Fei was "dumbfounded".
"From the Hengqin Bridge, there is only one cement road leading directly to the vicinity of the port. The weeds on the side of the road are more than one person high, and the port is hidden in the weeds. Yin Fei recalled, "At that time, the passenger inspection hall of the first-generation port had been judged to be a dangerous building, and all travel inspection services were suspended. When we rebuilt on the original site, we all had to wear hard hats to work. ”
Yin Fei has experienced four construction and relocation work of Hengqin Port. He clearly remembered that the first-generation port was only one or two hundred meters from one end to the other, and its function was relatively simple, and it was only responsible for the customs clearance of inbound and outbound passengers and vehicles.
The new Hengqin Port was officially put into use in 2020, with a total construction area of 450,000 square meters, and has become a comprehensive port integrating the functional area of the port, the functional area of the comprehensive transportation hub, the comprehensive development of the port and supporting facilities.
At six or seven o'clock in the evening, the Hengqin port bus station was crowded with people waiting for the bus. Photo/Southern Weekly reporter Wang Hang
Hengqin Port has undergone four generations of changes, bringing not only high-rise buildings, but also the improvement of customs clearance speed.
When he came to work in Hengqin at the beginning of 2019, Chen Weiliang could only drive to the Macau Lotus Port first, and then queue up to take the shuttle bus to Hengqin Port after passing the customs, which took 45 minutes.
"Now the two ports are combined into one, and the whole journey takes only 20 minutes, just like being in the same city. ”
At the same time as the changes in Hengqin, the Macao SAR Government is also constantly providing convenience for Macao people living in Hengqin.
"Macau will contribute to the Central Provident Fund for us, and I have to live in Macau for 183 days a year to get this money. Chen Youlan told Southern Weekend, "The restrictions have been lifted this year, so I don't have to travel between the two places anymore." ”
There are many "new Hengqin people" like Chen Weiliang and Chen Youlan. According to the data, by the end of 2023, the number of Macao residents working and residing in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin reached 11,500, a year-on-year increase of more than 70%.
But in the last century, "life in Macao was much better, and at that time, it was Hengqin people who came to Macao to work. This is a desert island, and the traffic is not convenient, who wants to come. Hong Jinfang, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Hetang Community of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, said.
1966:
Hengqin reclamation "will be sent when the time comes"
At night, standing on Rongao Road on the east side of Hengqin Financial Island, looking east, you can see the glittering Grand Lisboa Hotel and Macau Tower, and to the west, the 339-meter-tall building in Zhuhai and Macao, the Hengqin Financial Center, is lit up with neon lights, and light and shadow are projected on the Hao River. There is no big difference between Macao and Hengqin, which are across the river.
But in the past few decades, the scene of barren grass and fish ponds in Hengqin has been in stark contrast to the bustling Macau across the water.
Born in 1965, Hung Kam Fong is a native of Hengqin, and his Hongqi Village is the closest village to Macau. Standing on the shore outside Hongqi Village, the scenery on Coloane Island in Macau is clearly visible, and even the tombstones in the cemetery on the hill are looming.
In Hung's memory, in the 1980s, from Hengqin to Zhuhai, it was necessary to take a wooden boat to Wan Chai, which took an hour. "To Macau a little closer, it takes less than 10 minutes to take a boat from Hengqin Pier to Coloane, Macau. ”
In the late 1980s, Hung Kam-fong, who was in her twenties, visited Macau for the first time. He was dazzled by the flow of people on the streets and the glittering casino hotels. "Flower World!"
Hengqin, which is separated from Macao by a river, is still a tidal flat in most places, and the villagers basically rely on oyster farming and fishing for a living.
Before the Hengqin Bridge was officially completed and opened to traffic in 1999, although Hengqin belonged to Zhuhai, it was more closely connected with Macao.
The Hengqin Wharf in Hong Jinfang's mouth is located on Huandao East Road, and has now been transformed from the original simple wharf into two European-style buildings with orange roofs and white walls.
Hengqin Wharf, located on Huandao East Road, used to be the most convenient passage for Hengqin residents to travel to and from Macao. Photo/Southern Weekly reporter Wang Hang
Macao's prosperity and affluence once attracted villagers from Hengqin Island to Macao to make a living.
On a daily basis, they travel freely between Hengqin and Macao with the "Villagers' Permit for the Hengqin Administrative Area" and the "Villagers' Permit for the Hengqin Administrative Area of Zhuhai City" issued by the village committee and the police station, and have become marginalized people in Macao's low-cost labor market.
In the memory of 80-year-old Lau Genmin, when he was a child, his father would occasionally swing a wooden boat to Taipa, Macau to sell firewood and straw. "Fishermen have to go ashore once a month to dry the bottom of the boat with straw to remove the algae, moss and other debris that grows on the bottom of the boat, so that the boat is more durable."
In the village of Xiaohengqin Island, where Liu Genmin lives, he raises oysters, fish and rice for a living. The village is named because it is gathered on the slopes of the Potato Gang, and "only one stove of seawater rice can be planted every year, and the rice produced is red, and the yield is low and not delicious."
In the sixties and seventies of the twentieth century, the residents of Hengqin Island ushered in the first development boom.
In 1966, in order to ask for food from the beach, Zhuhai officially began the Hengqin Central Ditch Reclamation Project. However, due to the lack of financial, material and manpower resources, the progress and height of the embankment cannot keep up with the settlement speed. In desperation, Zhuhai could only ask for help from the higher-level Foshan Prefectural Committee, and asked to send brother counties to cooperate in reclaiming the central ditch in Hengqin.
At the end of 1970, 3,000 reclamation troops from five communes in Shunde marched to Hengqin, enclosing about 14 square kilometers of tidal flats between the large and small Hengqin islands into land.
Built in the 70s of the last century, the "Zhongnan Water Village" is the former site of the headquarters of the central ditch reclamation in Shunde. The couplet at the entrance of the courtyard is embedded with the place name "Shunde". Photo/Southern Weekly reporter Wang Hang
When Hengqin was first developed, Liu Genmin was working as an accountant in Zhuhai Supply and Marketing Cooperative, with a monthly salary of 28 yuan. Neighbors from the same village went to Xiangzhou in Zhuhai on a blind date and stayed with Liu Genmin at night, and he told Liu Genmin, "Hengqin is about to be opened to Macao, and it will be issued at that time." ”
Liu Genmin was moved, thinking that it was a good opportunity to make a fortune, so he packed up his things and quit his job in Zhuhai.
In the 70s, the land reclamation from the sea connected the large and small Hengqin islands, but the rumored large-scale development did not come true.
In order to make a living, Liu Genmin had to go to Macau to earn a living, he worked as a cement worker, carpenter, and helped fishermen build boats for two years.
"The wages given in Macau are settled on a daily basis, and the cement worker is 80 yuan a day, and the carpenter is higher, and he can get 150 yuan. Liu Genmin was quite satisfied with the income at that time, "But we all worked secretly, and when the police came to investigate, we had to hide quickly." ”
1992:
The story of the provincial economic development zone
In 1992, Hengqin Island, which had been silent for decades, once again ushered in development opportunities.
At that time, Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of reform and opening up, inspected Zhuhai for the second time. Subsequently, Hengqin was designated as one of the four key development zones in Guangdong to expand the opening up, and the Management Committee of Hengqin Economic Development Zone was officially put into office, and Hengqin ushered in a new round of land reclamation.
Hengqin's second land reclamation from the sea extended the coastline of Hongqi Village to the east, closer to Macao. "It used to be all the sea outside, and at high tide it was an ocean. Hong Jinfang pointed to the outside of the office and said.
The Hengqin wharf, where the villagers depended for their survival, also moved north to its current location.
"In October 1992, the 'reclamation campaign' of the Hengqin Economic Development Zone began, with more than 200 construction teams, more than 200 boats and more than 100 vehicles participating in the reclamation. The land in Hengqin began to extend to the east, south, west and north, and the reclamation of about 40 square kilometers of land was basically completed in 1997. It is recorded in the book "History of Hengqin Center Ditch Reclamation".
In the 90s, Aunt Zheng, who lived in Xiangyang Village in Hengqin, picked up vegetables every morning, took a boat from Hengqin Wharf to Macao to sell vegetables, and when she returned at three or four o'clock in the afternoon, she would come back with some cigarettes to sell. "You can only take a maximum of two at a time, but sometimes I will secretly take more, and it will be fine if I don't get found. Aunt Zheng snickered.
Like most of Hengqin's indigenous people, Hong Jinfang's family makes a living by raising oysters. Later, the sea area where the oysters were cultivated was taken back by the government for the development and construction of Hengqin, and he had to do odd jobs to make a living.
In the second year of the listing of the Hengqin Economic Development Zone, Hong Jinfang began to work in the village committee of Hongqi Village. After the news of the second development of Hengqin came, Hong Jinfang remembered that the island was lively for a while, and "people from outside the island began to open restaurants or sell vegetables on the island one after another."
But the good times did not last long, because the planning and suggestions have not been settled, people who seek opportunities on the island come and go, and Hengqin soon returned to desertion.
In 2004, Guangdong once again proposed the development of Hengqin, trying to create Hengqin Island as the "Pan-Pearl River Delta Hengqin Economic Cooperation Zone". But in the years that followed, this place, known as the "treasure land", was still in a state of "planning but not moving".
Seeing that the ferry ticket to and from Hengqin and Macao has risen from two yuan to five yuan, Hengqin Island is still silent.
"I have worked in Hengqin for 18 years, from young people to middle age, Hengqin is still 'open but not developed'...... Over the years, Hengqin's policy and development orientation have been 'common and changing', and we have been unresolved for a long time, resulting in us passing by opportunities many times. In 2007, Wang Dianbo, then a member of the Zhuhai CPPCC, said anxiously at a meeting of the Seventh CPPCC in Zhuhai.
However, Hong Jinfang said that although "not much progress" was made in the second development of Hengqin, the living conditions of the villagers had changed a lot. "In the 60s, they lived in mud and straw houses, in the 80s they lived in stone houses, and in the 90s, many families built two-story brick houses."
In 1999, the Hengqin Bridge connecting Hengqin and Zhuhai city was opened to traffic, and Hengqin Island had the first bus to the city; in 2000, the first generation of Hengqin port was officially opened to the outside world, and Hengqin was no longer an isolated island; with the simple roads, substations and water supply pipelines into the island have been put into use one after another, "the villagers no longer have to drive an hour's boat to Wan Chai to buy diesel power generation, nor do they have to rely on mountain spring water to get by."
"Hengqin has realized the bridge, road, water, electricity, post and port, but the vast majority of places are still the primitive scene of green agriculture and banana forests. Hong Jinfang said.
2009:
The national strategy is "in earnest"
After exiting the Hengqin Port, go south along Huandao East Road for four to five hundred meters, which is the first project jointly developed by Hengqin and Macao, the Hengqin Campus of the University of Macau. Covering an area of 1.09 square kilometres, the new campus is 21 times the size of the original campus.
The new campus of the University of Macau is only one or two hundred meters away from Hongqi Village, "which used to be a banana forest, and many villagers raised oysters there. When the school was opened, patches of banana trees were torn down. Hong Jinfang recalled.
On August 14, 2009, the State Council officially approved the "Hengqin Overall Development Plan". In December of the same year, the Administrative Committee of Hengqin New Area was inaugurated, and the foundation stone of the Hengqin Campus of the University of Macau was laid. Seeing more and more excavators, road rollers and tower cranes entering Hengqin, Hong Jinfang felt that "this time it is time to move seriously."
In 2012, the dirt road leading to Hongqi Village was upgraded to a two-way eight-lane asphalt road, and in 2013, the façade of the house in Hengqin was renovated, and the houses in Hongqi Village were full of strong European style.
Located in the middle of the Tianmu River in Hengqin, Tianmu Qintai will become a landmark building in Hengqin after completion. Photo/Southern Weekly reporter Wang Hang
Big place, lots of parks, good air, not so crowded...... Chen Youlan counted the characteristics of Hengqin. She is deeply touched by the changes in Hengqin over the past ten years.
Chen Youlan's house is located in Hengqin Shang Village, backed by Xiaohengqin Mountain, about 145 square meters, about 4 kilometers away from the port. "At that time, it was waiting for demolition, so I didn't renovate it after I bought it."
"When I first bought a house in 2012, there were very few residential projects in Hengqin, and most of the places were very deserted. Out of the Hengqin port, you can only take a black car back to Shangcun first. Chen Youlan recalled that because the driver was reluctant to enter the upper village, she had to get off at the intersection of the lower village and then detour home on the mountain road.
After waiting for many years, Chen Youlan has not been able to wait for the news of the house demolition. Since she didn't come to Hengqin much, she missed the opportunity to install an elevator in the house.
In 2020, after Chen Youlan retired, she and her husband officially moved to Hengqin, "The bus can go directly into the village. Hengqin is full of high-rise buildings, and compared with Macau, there is not much difference."
After living in Shangcun for more than three years, Chen Youlan is accustomed to taking taxis and buying groceries online, "Vegetables in Zhuhai are cheaper than in Macau, and they can be delivered directly to the purchasing point at the entrance of the village." From time to time, she would go to the farmers' market near the Hengqin pier to buy seafood and fish that the fishermen had just caught. Chen Youlan pointed to her husband on the side and said, "He likes to eat sea fish." ”
Chen Youlan is looking forward to the "Macao New Neighborhood" across the wall to complete the move-in as soon as possible. "After that, when I go out, I will be in the neighborhoods of Macau, and the shops will sell duty-free goods, just like in Macau."
With the development of Hengqin, Xiao Qidong, a young man born in the 90s in Macao, has experienced the process of first evacuating and then moving back.
As early as 2018, when he was engaged in the cultural and creative industry, Xiao Qidong set his sights on Hengqin and set up a branch in Hengqin. "We hope to use Hengqin as a platform to connect with the wider mainland market. Xiao Qidong told Southern Weekend.
When I first came to Hengqin, "there were basically no people here, and there were not many office buildings, and many buildings were under construction." Considering that the transportation and business environment in Zhuhai city is more convenient, Xiao Qidong moved the company to Zhuhai Wan Chai and Gongbei Port.
Seeing that "Hengqin's support for young entrepreneurs in Macao continues to increase, and the business environment is getting better and better", Xiao Qidong decided to return to Hengqin.
2021:
"More open development space" in the in-depth cooperation zone
When I met Hung Yude, he had just returned to Hengqin from Macau.
"After the implementation of the 'co-location arrangement', it has become much more convenient to travel between Hengqin and Macao. It takes only 40 minutes to drive from the Macau Peninsula to here. At the end of 2023, Hong Yude, who has been in Hengqin for more than two years, will also move his family.
In 2021, the Master Plan for the Development of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin was issued, and the management body of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin was formally established. Hong Yude also began to expand his business in Hengqin, mainly promoting drone applications and robotics education courses to primary and secondary school students.
Hung Yu Tak's company is located in Hengqin-Macau Youth Entrepreneurship Valley, less than 5 minutes' drive from Hengqin Port and across the road from the University of Macau. Standing in the office on the second floor, you can see the garden-style landscape outside the window.
Entering the Entrepreneurship Valley, more than a dozen single-family buildings with glass exterior walls are distributed one after another, and there are all kinds of supporting facilities such as creative exhibition halls, swimming pools, talent apartments, cafes, and convenience stores.
Hung Yu Tak's company is located in Hengqin-Macau Youth Entrepreneurship Valley, less than 5 minutes' drive from Hengqin Port and across the road from the University of Macau. Photo/Southern Weekly reporter Wang Hang
"We moved to Hengqin for better operation and development. It's easier to recruit technical talent here, and it's more cost-effective. More importantly, we hope to continue to expand our business in the Mainland market. ”
Macao's land area is less than one-third of that of Hengqin, and the high cost of rent and labor caused by the shortage of land space and the small population has always plagued Hung Yude. Hengqin's entrepreneurial policy support has alleviated his worries.
"In Macau, you can rent an office without 20,000 or 30,000 yuan. Here, the rent per square meter is only 60 or 70 yuan, and Macao young people also enjoy rent subsidies. "Compared to Macau, at least before making a profit, we have saved at least one-third of our office and labor costs." ”
Not long ago, he just moved the company's headquarters to Hengqin, and only kept a showroom at the Lisboa Hotel in Macau. Five or six Macao employees also followed him to Hengqin for development.
In Hong Yude's office, many of the equipment has not had time to be sorted out, and it is a little crowded.
"I hope that through my entrepreneurial experience, I can bring more young people from Macao to Hengqin. Although the commute may be a little longer than in Macau, there is much more room for development. Hong Yude said.
At the end of 2023, on the second anniversary of the introduction of the Hengqin plan, Xiao Qidong moved the company back to the Sany South Headquarters Building on the north side of Hengqin Port, and is committed to using high-tech research and development of environmentally friendly materials.
As a high-tech R&D industry focused on the development of the cooperation zone, Xiao Qidong has enjoyed the R&D subsidies and talent subsidies provided by the Hengqin government. "In the area of rent alone, government subsidies can help us save 40,000 or 50,000 yuan a month."
On March 1, 2024, the cooperation zone will be closed and operated, and the tax policy of "first-line" liberalization and "second-line" control of goods will be officially implemented. After the closure and operation, the scope of goods enjoying the "first-line" import exemption and the "second-line" deemed export tax rebate has been expanded.
Xiao Qidong's company has long needed to purchase equipment and materials from the mainland for product research and development, and "the tax rebate policy will greatly reduce our operating costs."
"After the closure of Hengqin, we will be greeted by a more open space for development. Xiao Qidong said.
(At the request of the interviewee, Chen Youlan, Deng Yuhao, and Liu Genmin are pseudonyms)
Southern Weekly reporter Wang Hang
Editor-in-charge: Yao Yijiang