Qingmao Port | Users find new border checkpoint convenient, but involves longer walk

Officially opened at 3 p.m. yesterday, the new Qingmao Border Checkpoint is convenient, although the internal walking distance is a little long, users of the facility said.
Lines of travelers started waiting outside the new facility at least half an hour before the official opening time. They said they were excited about being able to use another land border checkpoint.
Travelers, especially those residing in Fai Chi Kei, Toi San and Ilha Verde Districts, found the new facility more convenient than the Border Gate on the Macau side.
In contrast, travelers coming from the Zhuhai side found the Qingmao Border Checkpoint less convenient than the Border Gate.
A non-resident worker who used the new border checkpoint on his way to work in Macau told the Times that although he did not mind walking a little, it took him some time yesterday to find and walk to the Qingmao Border Checkpoint’s Zhuhai side after alighting from the bus on the mainland side.
Nonetheless, he expected that he would use the Qingmao Border Checkpoint regularly in the future because he lives near the facility on the Macau side.
The new border checkpoint connects Macau with the High-speed Zhuhai Railway Station, which is adjacent to the Gongbei/Border Gate Building.
However, comments did not fall only on one side. A tourist from Fujian Province named Ng commended the Qingmao Border Checkpoint for its convenience. He pointed out that there is easy access to transport around the new facility.
The new immigration facility is the third in the city to operate with the collaborative ID check mode for immigration clearance. Travelers will pass through a single ID check to clear both immigration systems.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and the Hengqin Border Checkpoint are the two other facilities operating with this mode of ID clearance.
The Qingmao Border Checkpoint is open 24 hours every day. It only accommodates Macau residents, mainland residents and Hong Kong Permanent ID Card holders.
Its proximity to the High-
speed Railway Zhuhai Station has positioned the Qingmao Border Checkpoint as a strategic project in the development of the Greater Bay Area. Theoretically, a traveler can journey from the Border Checkpoint building to Beijing on a rainy day without (or only briefly) exposing themselves to the rain.
At the opening ceremony yesterday morning, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said that the new border checkpoint is “a key progressive project in the construction of the high-speed railway network in the Greater Bay Area.”
“The opening of the Qingmao Border Checkpoint will further advance mutual connectivity of infrastructures and efficient and convenient human movement within the Greater Bay Area,” the head of government said.
The older Border Gate Checkpoint at Gongbei, recorded in 2019 a daily average of 400,000 movements of people, said Ho.
The new Qingmao Checkpoint was just 800 metres away, would operate round-the-clock, and was designed for 200,000 movements of people per day. The Chief Executive said he believed the new checkpoint would offer overflow capacity in support of the Border Gate Checkpoint.
At the same occasion, Ma Xingrui, governor of Guangdong Province, echoed the CE’s view. “The opening of the Qingmao Border Checkpoint will help further progress the national railway network of China,” he said. “It will also inject new energy into the construction of the Greater Bay Area.”