Our Desk: A tale of two border crossings

Brook Yang

Living across two separated territories has trained me to be border-crossing savvy. I try to avoid the crowded checkpoints and congested traffic as much as I can, and learn my lessons from experimenting with the choices of routes, means of transport and timing. Overall, I try to avoid feeling anxious, desperate or helpless. And to achieve that, I often spend money on time, so to speak. Nevertheless, the daily exposure to the hassle of commuting hasn’t changed my mind and physique too much.
The Gongbei Port in Zhuhai was to be the first test in the journey. Right before President Xi Jinping came to visit the MSAR, the Zhuhai authorities set up a hidden passageway to manage the onslaught of peak-hour traffic, naming it the “Weatherproof Corridor” (literally, the Wind and Rain Corridor). The Z-shaped structure occupies a big part of the square. Even when there are few commuters, it forces them to walk in a huge circle to get to the Port’s hall. And when the passageway is fully packed? We pace step by step and perhaps even reflect on our reasons for visiting our intended destination.
If you look around at all the Chinese visitors, there are three shared characteristics. There are those adorned with iconic patterns of luxury brands from head to toe; these brands happen to be one of Macau’s major generators of revenue. Then it’s the tour group visitors we often see isolated in the travel agency buses. These are the general masses, the people who have been excluded from the individual tourist visa scheme. They may be surprised at the price of a small packet of almond cookies, or have to sit waiting at the Golden Lotus Square for the trip to finish, but still, they expect to return home with a unique experience.
Then there are also those who cross the border to shop for necessities. Purchasing milk powder, sale clothing, shampoo and even facial care products, many of these people still live by the rule of spending time to save money or to pursue quality. The trend is even more prominent in the marches of the MSAR’s elderly citizens, dragging home meat and vegetables trolley by trolley.
Walking for five minutes through a channel accommodating travel agencies, casino and hotel booths, and duty-free shops for alcohol, cigarettes and cosmetics, we reach the other side of the border. However, another section of the journey has only just started.
Here the principle of “spending money to save time” might be subject to change, as passing through the impenetrable traffic by taxi isn’t an option that any working-class person can afford. There’s also the fact that taxis are a scarce resource from time to time. You take a look around, deterred by the intensive queues for the casino shuttle buses. Shortly after and helplessly, we may find ourselves overwhelmed in the underground bus terminal.
It can be a place that makes you doubt the meaning of life, whilst the engines are rumbling and echoing in the thin air, and the queues in the dark seem to take hours to board. Eventually we squeeze into a packed bus that heads downtown or to a work place, but maybe also towards a two-hour conjunction.
Just when wondering if it’s luck or the contrary, a set of text massages buzz your phone one after another: “Macau baccarat welcomes you.”