Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge to open Sunday

A commissioning ceremony for the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge will be held on Sunday morning (June 30). The bridge is scheduled to allow crossings from 3 p.m. on Sunday, after seven years of construction.

The bridge, on which construction began in 2017, is a new 24-kilometer-long, eight-lane channel that will connect the cities of Shenzhen and Zhongshan in China’s Guangdong province. It includes an underwater tunnel, artificial islands, and a cross-sea highway bridge.

The new bridge is expected to significantly reduce travel time between Shenzhen and Zhongshan from around two hours to just 30 minutes. It will better connect the cities in China’s Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and support increased trade, logistics and tourism in the region. Fanny Yeung Shuk, executive director of the Travel Industry Council was quoted by The Standard as saying, “the new bridge will better convenience travellers from Hong Kong heading north, as they will no longer need to pass through Fumun during their journey to Zhongshan.”

According to media reports, there are already five guided tours, involving over 200 tourists, which will be traveling through the sea crossing on the opening day. The tours will visit the former residence of Sun Yat-sen, have lunch and return to Hong Kong the same day via the bridge.

Acceptance checks on the bridge were passed on June 16, which has a design speed limit of 100km/h. Nadia Shaw