A cross-boundary travel surge gave a major boost to the Chinese mainland's tourism sector during the four-day Easter holiday from April 18 to 21 in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.
On the first day alone, Hong Kong residents made 724,000 mainland-bound trips, including 84,000 via the West Kowloon station on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed rail.
Many chose Guangdong Province as their primary destination, while others used it as a transit point to travel further into the mainland.
"We took the direct train from West Kowloon to Quanzhou. It's really convenient -- just one stop and we're home in under 20 minutes," said a traveler from Hong Kong.
Border checkpoints operated at full capacity, with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge logging over 117,000 vehicle crossings, up 60.71 percent year-on-year.
On April 17 alone, inbound vehicle crossings hit a new high of 14,500, more than double the same day last year.
Checkpoints in Shenzhen, including Luohu and Shenzhen Bay, were packed with travelers moving in orderly queues.
"There's so much fun and good food here, I come often during holidays -- I'm pretty familiar with the area," said a frequent visitor from Hong Kong.
"I brought my kids to visit the amusement parks and enjoy some good food," said another visitor from Hong Kong.
According to Shenzhen border authorities, between April 18 and noon on April 21, a total of 3.119 million border crossings were recorded, up 14.7 percent year on year.
On April 18 alone, travelers from the two regions made 641,000 trips to the mainland, marking a new single-day high.
Entry points such as Futian and Shenzhen Bay also registered historic highs in daily inbound traffic.
HK, Macao Easter holiday fuels surge in mainland travel
China has launched a new cargo route combining sea-rail intermodal transport with the China-Europe Express service, aiming to speed up delivery of high-tech exports to Europe.
A cargo ship carrying domestically produced goods such as photovoltaic panels and lithium batteries departed from the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in eastern China's Zhejiang Province on Wednesday. The shipment is expected to reach Wilhelmshaven, Germany, 26 days after departure. This marks the first shipment from Ningbo-Zhoushan Port under the new "dual-express" model. Domestically, the goods are gathered to the port from inland exporters at Hefei North Railway Station in Anhui Province. Internationally, Germany’s Wilhelmshaven Port serves as a hub to extend distribution across Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Baltic region.
"The transportation time has been reduced from the original 45 days to 30 days, saving 15 days for clients. This provides a good option for some clients with high requirements for transportation timeliness," said Zhang Bangmin, director of the Hefei branch of Hefei Railway Logistics Center.
The European Union is Ningbo-Zhoushan Port's largest trading partner, with its trade with the EU reached 115.92 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2025, up 21.5 percent year on year.
In addition to routes for the China-Europe Express, the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port has also opened new routes to South America in the first quarter of this year, bringing its total number of the shipping routes to over 300.
"At present, the shipping routes of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port connect over 600 ports in more than 200 countries and regions. Besides its largest trading partner, the European Union, it also increasingly trades with ASEAN countries and Brazil," said Hu Feng, an officer from Ningbo Customs.
Many other major ports in China are also exploring new routes to other markets as they face a decrease in shipments to the United States.
Shenzhen Yantian Port has opened new routes to Europe, the Mediterranean, South America and other Asian countries, while the Qingdao Port is about to open new routes to South America and the Middle East.
China's first cargo ship along new 'dual-express' combined route sets sail for Germany
