The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Opens Across the Pearl River Delta

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge opened to traffic on 24 October 2018. It crosses the mouth of the Pearl River and joins Hong Kong, on the eastern side, to Macau and the mainland city of Zhuhai on the western side. At 55 kilometres it is the longest sea crossing in the world.

The structure

Construction began in December 2009 and took nine years. The crossing is a chain of different structures. From Hong Kong a viaduct runs west from the airport island. In the middle of the estuary the road descends into a tunnel 6.7 kilometres long, laid in sections on the sea bed, so that ships can pass above it on their way to the ports of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Two artificial islands were built to connect the tunnel to the bridges at either end. The longest section is a bridge of nearly 23 kilometres, with three cable-stayed spans whose towers are shaped as a dolphin, a mast and a Chinese knot. The project cost about 127 billion yuan and was designed to last 120 years.

How to use it

The road journey between Hong Kong and Zhuhai, which used to take about four hours around the delta, was cut to some 30 minutes.

Few visitors cross by private car, since special permits are required. Most take the shuttle bus that runs between the border buildings at each end, known from its colour as the golden bus. It leaves every five to ten minutes by day, runs through the night at longer intervals, and takes about 40 minutes. Passengers clear immigration on leaving one side and again on arriving at the other. Through coaches also run from districts of Hong Kong directly to the hotels of Macau.

The Hong Kong port stands on an artificial island beside the airport, and is reached by city bus from the airport, from Tung Chung and from the Sunny Bay station. The Macau port is on reclaimed land north-east of the peninsula, with buses and taxis to the centre and to Cotai. Vehicles drive on the right on the bridge, as on the mainland, and change sides at each end.

Bridge or ferry

The high-speed ferries still run from Central and Kowloon to Macau in about an hour, and for someone staying on Hong Kong Island they remain the simpler way. The bridge is better for travellers arriving at Hong Kong airport and going straight to Macau, for those staying in the west of Kowloon or on Lantau, and in rough weather, when ferries are cancelled. The bus is also cheaper. The crossing itself, low over open water with the hills of Lantau behind, is worth seeing once.

The bridge has made it easy to combine the two cities in one visit. Our guides to Hong Kong’s new museums and to the hotel architecture of Macau suggest what to do on each side.