Lo Wu
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Lo Wu (in Cantonese; traditional Chinese: 羅湖; simplified Chinese: 罗湖; pinyin: luóhú) is a primary border crossing between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone of the People's Republic of China.

Location

Lo Wu is located at the northernmost part of Hong Kong. It can be accessed by KCR or taking public transportation to Sheung Shui and then taxi.

Land boundary control point

Lo Wu is one of the four important land boundary control points of the Hong Kong SAR. Other control points are Lok Ma Chou, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok. Lo Wu Immigration Control Point operates daily from 6:30am to midnight. During peak hours, holidays and weekends, the waiting time for entry and exits through Lo Wu is shorter than at the other 3 control points because it has the largest visitors' handling capacity. Of all passenger departures (including non-residents) for mainland China, 90% are through the land border control points of Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok, with Lo Wu accounting for 85% of total departures.

Lo Wu the commonest border for people travelling to mainland China because most of people like to choose to take the KCR which is more convenient compared with other means of transportation. It is also because passing through Lo Wu, one can reach the busiest commerical zone of Shenzhen city within the shortest period of time.

24-hour border crossing

In mid-December 2002, the Hong Kong government announced that the Lok Ma Chou immigration control point shall take the lead for providing round-the-clock passenger service just before Chinese New Year. Vehicles and container trucks are already moving both ways throughout the night at this control point.

However, 24-hour border-crossing at Lo Wu control point is still undergoing vigorous debates due to the limited number of passengers at night, costs and noise pollution likely to be created. Kowloon-Canton Railway chairman Michael Tien Puk Sun has once said that it is absolutely impossible to run rail services 24 hours a day because of the difficulties in maintenance. This new policy has both advantages and disadvantages. It is surely a catalyst for China-Hong Kong trade and logistics. However, it may cause some social problems since it eases the way to go from Hong Kong to China. One of the examples is family problem.

Safety problem at land boundary control point

Lo Wu is a forbidden area in Hong Kong. Only the authorized citizens can enter this area. If people need to go to Lo Wu, they have to get an approval from the Hong Kong Police Force. There is no need to get an approval if they just go through Lo Wu to go to Shenzhen.

An incident happened in 2000, involving a boy named Yu Man Hon, who was a mentally disabled teenager missing' at the Lo Wu boundary control point. It was believed that he dashed through the immigration control counter and was wrongly sent to mainland China by the administrative officer. There was much argument on the security control of the boundary control point after the Yu Man Hon incident. But the boy still cannot be found.

Developments in the Lo Wu district

Lo Wu is somewhat famous for shopping because of the low price. This feature is especially important since Hong Kong is currently under a somewhat depressed economic climate. On the other hand, Lo Wu is full of fake products. In there, you can easily find LV, CK, Gucci, etc.

Due to its strategic position as a gateway to Hong Kong, the Lo Wu District of Shenzhen has become the focal point of many large companies. That is why the demand for top-grade office buildings there is growing steadily. Many of these companies are foreign companies, like international banks and accounting firms. Meanwhile, the supply of these top-grade office buildings in Lo Wu District has been in shortage. In December 2003, the contstruction of the Loihu Business Centre was completed. The 50-story building is the new landmark of Lo Wu District and it can cater the demand for top-grade offices.

The original article can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lo_Wu.
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