Hong Kong - Shenzhen border crossing

In order to go from Hong Kong to Shenzen, it is necessary to take the KCR train from Hung Hom Station to Luohu Station. Trains operate until 1am. Check out this website for train schedules.

Quick Tips:

In order to cross from Hong Kong to Shenzen, one will be required to purchase the special 'Shenzen Visa' or Sprecial Economic Zone visa, which costs HK and is valid for 24 hours. It seems that the visa-free stay of up to 72 hours is no longer permitted. U.S. citizens are allowed same day visa processing. The processing time is determined on a first come first served basis, but doesn't typically take more than an hour.

Best Way To Get Around:

Upon arrival at Luohu, you will find no sign of the border with Hong Kong. You will likely see quite a few people walking out of the station. Please follow and see where they are heading and watch as they just turn left and walk off the platform, down the road to nowhere. If you feel confused and a bit lost, that is okay; you are probably going in the right direction. After a short walk, you will arrive at a large building that resembles like a multi-story car park, but is actually the Border and Customs clearance building.

Once through to the Chinese side, you will walk across a bridge through "no-man's land," which is obviously the land area between the "one China, two lifestyles," as there’s barbed wire and lookout posts all the way up and around the area. The Hong Kong side is fairly straightforward, as most people speak English are helpful. The Chinese side is often much more difficult as English is not as prevalent and street signs are not translated. You may be put off by Shenzhen upon arrival as a result of the overwhelming number of street prostitutes and touts. Please be aware.

Best Western’s Rosedale on the Park is a unique hotel offering guests what it dubs "the Cyber Boutique Hotel" experience. I was totally unaware of this hotel genre when I made the reservations. However, upon arrival, I quickly became completely au fait on this the latest of hotel fads.

From check-in to check-out, a stay at Rosedale on the Park is a constant barrage of pleas from the modern world to reconnect. Let me put it to this way: there are sattelite plasma TVs, cordless telephones, broadband connections, and novelty reminders of the IT-dot-COM turn of the millennium eccentricity everywhere one looks. Vacationing IgoUgo writers may find the high-speed internet and 24 hour on-site IT support not only convenient, but also a refreshing change of pace from all the hotels that still rely on dial-up connections and clueless troubleshooting hotel staff.

Although this hotel is very smartly furnished and offers great views of Causway Bay and Victoria Park, I couldn’t help but be distracted back to the cyber reality of my hotel stay. I was curious as I was laying in bed: is the broadband on the nightstand intended to comfort jet-lagged overworked business travelers, or is it just this generation’s answer to the vibrating bed? You can draw your own conclusions.

Hotel staff are extremely friendly and helpful. On-site dining is well presented and offers a variety of choices from Chinese to Western fare, with a skyline bar on the top floor. But as is typical with large hotels, all menu items are very pricey, so I opted for the considerably cheaper Pizza Hut delivery.

With all the bells and whistles attached to this hotel, the greatest compliment to the guest and most redeeming factor in choosing this hotel is the free hotel shuttle to and from HK International Airport. I was surprised and disappointed that there is not an on-site pool, but the exercise room is well-appointed--and comes complete with its own broadband connection.

Temple Street at dusk can best be described as a maddening swarm of humanity. Street vendors spout up under their stalls on the filthy concrete like mushrooms under dank logs. By nightfall the famous bustling Temple Street Night Market is in full swing, with vendors hawking goods ranging from casual clothing to semi-ligament mobile phone schemes and all makes of faux designer watches.

Temple Street gained fame for impromptu Chinese street opera, fortune tellers, even the streetside dental exams, and in the process earned the name "Hong Kong's Poor Man's Nightclub". Despite Temple Street’s long history of Chinese street opera, unfortunately, visitors to Temple Street Market in contemporary times are unlikely to witness this street theater. The market is especially busy on Saturday evenings and during special festivals, times that also offer the best chance catch the impromptu street opera.

Regardless of the night, visitors will witness seemingly endless food stalls, bargain goods including all manner of knock-off t-shirts, jeans, bags, and pirated DVDs and CDs. Temple Street is set apart im my mind from other markets because it has managed to stay true to its roots as a real street stall-based market. This is not the case with the shop-style markets, found at the Stanley Market for example. Although you may find antiques and jewelry like those at Stanley or at other markets in Hong Kong, keep in mind that these antiques are not quality items and should not be taken as legitimate articles. But on the other hand, if you like what you find, the prices will be generally better than at other Hong Kong markets.

To access Temple Street, please use the MTR. Take the Jordan Road station exit that leads out to Nathan Road. From there head north on Nathan Road for two or three blocks, with your attention focused on finding a narrow alleyway, which leads to the night market.