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March 8, 2014 |
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Lo Wu (in Cantonese (linguistics)|Cantonese; traditional Chinese: 羅湖; simplified Chinese: 罗湖; pinyin: lu?h?) 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. Lo Wu is located in the centre of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and adjacent to Hong Kong. It is a financial and trading centre. It covers an area of 78.89km. The Shenzhen River separates Hong Kong from Shenzhen, and there are four notorious busy immigration control points ? Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok ? which link the two places together with bridges. Lo Wu can be accessed by KCR or taking public transportation to Sheung Shui and then taxi. It is also one of the four districts of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Shenzhen City of the People's Republic of China . The other three districts of the SEZ are Futian (福田), Nanshan (南山) and Yantian (鹽田) Main article: Lo Wu (KCRC) Background information The contractor: Shui On Construction Company Limited Contract Value(HKD) : $105 280 000 Construction Period : Apr, 85 - Dec, 87 Client : Railway Development Office, Engineering Development Dept Architect : Spencer Robinson Structural Engineer : Maunsell Consultants Asia Building Services Engineer : Rankine and Hill Consulting Services Engineers Quantity Surveyor : Langdon Every & Seah This project comprises the construction of platform, canopies, a subway, some road and track works. Lo Wu Immigration Control Point (羅湖入境管制站) is a cross border point for passengers only, but not for vehicles. It operates daily from 6:30am to midnight. During peak hours, holidays and weekends, the waiting time for entries and exits through Lo Wu is shorter than the other 3 control points because it has the largest visitors' handling capacity. Of all passenger departures (including non-residents) for mainland China (中國大陸), 90% is 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 is the most popular border crossing for people traveling to mainland China because most people would choose KCR which is more convenient compared to other means of transportation. By passing through Lo Wu, one can reach the busiest commercial zone of Shenzhen city in the shortest period of time. All passengers passing though the boundary control point must fill in the health declaration form before entering Hong Kong. This measure was announced in March 2003 in order to tackle SARS (沙士). It is advisable to fill in the form before entering the arrival hall. Starting from July 5, 2002, a returning Hong Kong resident aged 18 or above who has spent at least 24 hours outside Hong Kong may bring in 60 cigarettes duty-free for his own use. Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, an incoming passenger must declare dutiable cigarettes to a Customs officer and pay the duty on them. In mid-December 2002, the Hong Kong government announced that Lok Ma Chou immigration control point shall take the lead to provide round-the-clock passenger service just before Chinese New Year (農曆新年). Vehicles and container trucks have already been 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 mainly arguing about the limited number of passengers at night. In addition, higher costs and noise pollution are likely to be created. Kowloon-Canton Railway chairman Michael Tien Puk Sun (田北辰) 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 clear that trade and logistic (物流) between China and Hong Kong will flourish. However, it may also cause some social problems since it eases the way to go from Hong Kong to China. One of the examples is family problem. On this particular date, 200 passengers on a train which should have been terminated in Sheung Shui (KCRC)|Sheung Shui insisted in going to Lo Wu. Since this train affected the operation of other trains at the time, KCRC directed the train to proceed to Lo Wu with passengers on board and later alerted the police authority. After the authority has explained the situation to the passengers, most (about 100 passengers) agreed to leave on specially laid additional southbound trains at 00:30 and 01:25. Then later at 02:30 the Police had to arrange vehicles to send another 51 passengers to Sheung Shui where they have to make their own way home. As for the remaining who refused to leave Lo Wu, KCRC made special arrangements to allow them to stay on the station platform to wait for the resumption of immigration clearance service in the morning. Lo Wu is a forbidden area in Hong Kong. Usually, only travellers wanting to pass through Lo Wu to reach Shenzhen are allowed to enter the area. Citizens wishing to enter the area for other purposes require special approval from the Hong Kong Police Force. An incident happened in 2000, involving a boy named Yu Man Hon (庾文翰), who was mentally disabled. He was 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. To this day, the boy has not yet been found. There was much argument over the security of the boundary control point after this incident. 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, (eg. 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 construction of the Luohu Business Centre was completed. The 50-storey building is the new landmark of Lo Wu District and it can cater the demand for top-grade offices. Because of the integration of China and Hong Kong in terms of economy, it's really a challenge for Hong Kongers to rethink the position of Hong Kong and even Hong Kongers, Lo Wu is a place that symbolizes the mixing for two different cultures or economy and political situation. It is not only a position to travel through Hong Kong to China, what is more important is that it allows culture integration (文化融合). Shenzhen River Main article: Shenzhen River In May 1995, the governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen jointly completed the environmental impact assessment study of the Shenzhen River Stage 1 works (深圳河第一期改善工程), which comprised the construction of two new, wider and deeper river sections of about 3.2km long at Lok Ma Chau and Liu Pok (料壆) to replace existing river bends. However, the environmental assessment report would be nothing more than another publication on the book shelf if the recommendations in the report were not implemented. The governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen were determined not to let it happen that way and were committed to implementing a comprehensive environmental monitoring and audit programme. Prevention is better than cure - this was also the basic principle on which environmental monitoring and audit programmes were designed to work. The project represented the first opportunity to adopt the concept of environmental performance levels -Trigger, Action and Target (TAT) Levels for a construction project in China. The idea is to provide a warning-to-action system which alerts the project team to a possible pollution incident when the Trigger Level is reached. Action must be taken when the Action Level is reached so as to keep the deterioration to below the Target Level. A project must gain the community's support and must respond to the community. To do this, a hotline was established so that local residents could lodge complaints when they found any pollution caused by the works. Experience tells us that more public scrutiny can enhance the environmental awareness of the site staff. The setting up of a hotline was also essential since the Trigger and Action Levels for noise in the project was based on the number of complaints received. The environmental monitoring approach adopted for the Stage 1 project actually worked. Since the start of the construction work in May 1995, there were several breaches of the warning levels (Trigger and Action Levels). No exceedance of the Target Levels, in both Hong Kong and Shenzhen was recorded. Most of the potential problems were identified and mitigated through the environmental monitoring system. The most vivid testimony of the beneficial effects of the Stage 1 works will not escape frequent cross border travelers. Water underneath the Lo Wu Bridge used to be characteristically black, smelly and muddy. Today the situation has improved significantly and people crossing the bridge can now use their hands to attend to duty free goods instead of covering their noses. Furthermore, the widened river channel with landscaped banks greatly enhances the scenery in the border area. Hong Kong's Advisory Council on the Environment was equally concerned that the commitments made to them during the environmental assessment stage were delivered. Regular progress reports were made to the Council to keep members informed of the progress of the works and the environmental performance. On 20 September 1996, members of the Council visited Shenzhen to be briefed on the status of the works and to exchange views on the project. The Shenzhen River Regulation Project (深圳河改善工程) may well be the first Chinese project to employ the TAT system in environmental monitoring and audit. Judging from its success and reception, it will certainly not be the last. While the Shenzhen River continues to flow between the two cities of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the flow of expertise in environmental protection will also continue, rendering benefits for both sides. Lo Wu Bridge (羅湖橋) Short-term improvement works at the Lo Wu Footbridge, which links Hong Kong and Shenzhen, have been completed according to schedule, giving travelers more convenience on the Spring Festival Peak season. At a total cost of about 2.3 million HK dollars (295,000 U.S. dollars), the works entail the installation of 72 air-conducting fans to improve ventilation, relocation of railings to widen the main passenger lanes, and replacement of the ceiling and floor tiles. At a site briefing Friday, Alan Chu, principal assistant secretary for security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), highly praised the full cooperation of the Port Office of the people's government of Shenzhen and concerned parties in Hong Kong. "We hope that passengers will enjoy the comfort of an improved environment," he said. "Also, with the widening of the main passenger lane, it will help alleviate congestion during peak hours, facilitating the movements of passengers between the two places." The short-term improvement project in question is an area of cooperation arising from the joint efforts of the Hong Kong and Guangdong governments to enhance boundary crossing facilities. The project was endorsed at the 4th plenary of the Hong Kong/Guangdong Cooperation Joint Conference held on July 25 last year. The bridge will also facilitate the rapid increase in passengers when the Lo Wu station of the Shenzhen metro system opens in late 2004. Due to the course of widening the river section at Lo Wu, it is necessary to reconstruct the Lo Wu railway bridge as its span is not long enough for the widened river section. The old Lo Wu railway bridge has been relocated downstream In Sept 2003 in order to facilitate the construction of a new bridge for the widened Shenzhen River Lo Wu section. Owing to its historical value, the old rail bridge will be preserved as a monument on the bank of the Shenzhen River adjacent to the Lo Wu Station. The whole bridge was relocated without any change of the existing features, and the shifting of the bridge across the existing railway line was the most difficult part of the operation. The government said damage to the existing bridge structure will be minimal. Crimes Crimes ranging from homicide, robbery, mugging, as well as theft|stealing are pervading in the Lo Wu District. The most popular two are Trafficking in human beings|child trafficking and counterfeit banknotes. There are some child trafficking gangs in the district, abducting children aged from three to four from near crowded places like vegetable markets and supermarkets. The abductees will then be sold to various cities in Guangdong, mostly to the farmers there. It is alleged that the problem springs from China's one-child policy (一孩政策). It is a Chinese tradition that people would rather have a son than a daughter, so many families who have been unable to have a son, opt to buy one from traffickers. The kidnapped children are typically sold for between 1,000 to 10,000 Renminbi|yuan. In September 2003, police in south China smashed a child trafficking ring and rescued nine children. Nevertheless, the central government is still being criticized for not paying enough attention to this problem. Apart from child trafficking, counterfeit banknotes is another serious problem in the district. Dongmen shopping district is alleged to be a black spot for passing fake notes to customers. Hong Kong shoppers are often the targets of the scam as they are less familiar with the features of yuan notes. Shop owners usually keep only a small amount of fake notes, which is insufficient for a successful prosecution. Even though an employee is caught red-handed, the shop owner will deny all knowledge and blame the individual. That's why it is quite difficult for the authorities to crack down this scam. In October 2003, about 40 shops in Dongmen shopping district have been shut after they were found passing counterfeit banknotes to customers. In November, 2003, a '70-day storm operation against crimes' was launched in Lo Wu. It aimed at putting forward improvements in social order of the district. Correctional Institution It is a minimum security institution. It was established on 1997. It is situated at 163 Ho Sheung Heung Road, Sheung Shui, and New Territories. It is only for male adult prisoners. The capacity is 182. People can go there by green mini-bus No. 51K from KCR Sheung Shui Station. The visiting hours is as follow: All Days (Except Wednesdays) - 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays (Except Public Holidays) - 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays (Public Holidays) - 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Visitors should register 1/2 hour before the end of visiting time. Visitors must produce proof of identity. In response to the growing importance of the reformation of offenders, the Correctional Services Department (CSD) has set up a new division to focus on rehabilitation services for inmates since January 1998. The new Rehabilitation Division is headed by Assistant Commissioner (Rehabilitation) and comprises about 380 staff in five units. They include: (1) Pre-Sentence Assessment Panel / Young Offender Assessment Panel & Prisoners' Welfare Services Unit; (2) Aftercare Unit; (3) Education Unit; (4) Vocational Training Unit; and (5) Psychological Services Section. With the establishment of the Rehabilitation Division, they strive to formulate strategies for the long-term development of rehabilitation services for inmates, to strengthen the co-ordination / connection with the relevant statutory prison sentence review boards, and other concerned bodies on rehabilitation matters of inmates, and to identify the gaps and overlaps in existing rehabilitation services for inmates. When you go to Lo Wu and want to stay near the railway station, here is my suggestion Shangri-La Hotel (香格里拉大酒店).It is close to the Lo Wu border crossing from neighboring Hong Kong, as well as near the main railway station which has convenient rail links to Guangzhou (廣州) and Beijing (北京). Here is the address for the hotel: East Side, Railway Station, Jianshe Road, Shenzhen, 518001 (Not advertising) Shopping 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 of some well-known brands, e.g. Louis Vuition, Calvin Klein, Gucci, etc. There are many large shopping centers in Lo Wu. One of them is the Lo Wu Commercial City Building (羅湖商業城) which is just beside Lo Wu Immigration Control Point. It is a multi-storey shopping center where you can find handbags, clothes, shoes, china-made audio-visual products and all sorts of digital video discs (DVD). Most of the consumer goods there are very cheap. There are also some restaurants and massaging centers where tourist can relax them after shopping. Another famous shopping area is the Dongmen area (東門). It takes a 15-minutes walk to reach there from Lo Wu Immigration Control Point. There you can find cinemas and a few large shopping centers. It is the heart of the Lo Wu district and it is usually very crowded during weekends when a lot of local citizens as well as tourist from Hong Kong enjoy their shopping there. However, shopping in Lo Wu has greatly affected the economy of Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong people earn money in Hong Kong from different sectors, they spend it there and the money will probably flow to mainland China. Gradually, the shops in Hong Kong will lose their market. The boom of retailing sector in Lo Wu may mean a blow to the already-depressed Hong Kong economy. To be optimistic, as the people in China grow richer, the shops in Lo Wu may also gain a large sum of money from them. In this way, the money of two places flow in a two-way direction, that means Hong Kong is not just flowing out money. Shops in Hong Kong on the other hand attract mainlanders to spend money through the Individual Visit Scheme implemented recently. It is understandable that why shops in Hong Kong now accept the use of yuan. Mainlander is obviously one of their main market. Shop owners are willing to ease them by using a convenient currency exchange. Consequently, the shops in Lo Wu make a spark for mainland people to shop in Hong Kong. We hope that this spark will glow into a big fire to light up Hong Kong's economy. Sports: horse-riding Here I would like to introduce you the Lo Wu Saddle Club. The Club is a horse riding establishment that is open to members as well as the general public. It is situated at Ho Sheung Heung (河上鄉), Sheung Shui, New Territories (新界), Hong Kong. The Club was formerly a camp for the British Army. There have been equines of one sort or another at Lo Wu Camp for over 30 years. The Camp was built to house over 10 British Army Mules, which were used as pack animals for forays into the hills and along the border, as well as for drills and formal parades. Originally known as the RASC the name was changed to the 81st Pack Troop of the Royal Corps of Transport. Later, horses joined the mules and the Hong Kong Services Saddle Club (HKSSC) came into being, under the command of the Royal Army Vet Corps. The HKSSC was the first and for sometime the only place in Hong Kong where riding instruction was given. All other riding establishments were strictly for leisure only. The Army was also the first to hold competitions on the fields here and at the Shek Kong Airfield. In 1994 with the beginning of withdrawal of British troops from Hong Kong, HKSSC was on the verge of closure. In June of that year a group of keen horse lovers, determined to maintain a base for their riding activities, negotiated a lease on the Lo Wu Camp and took over the administration of what is now know as "Lo Wu Saddle Club". Themes and objectives of the Club are, among others, promotion of equestrian sport and the care of horses. These are achieved through avenues such as giving of riding instruction to all levels of riders, holding of horse shows and clinics, involvement in the Hong Kong Equestrian Federation and the Pony Club, provision of community services and establishing ties with other cities and countries (e.g. Beijing, France, Ireland and New Zealand) and with international trainers. Today, having seen the very beginning of equestrian in Hong Kong, the Club continues to encourage appreciation of the sport, and of our friend, the horse. Walking hand-in-hand with nature As one can see, there are myriad types of entertainment in Luohu, shopping in the busy urban centre or doing sports in clubs located in suburban areas. But how about taking a rest in the quiet and beautiful suburb? If you are not so keen on sports and just want to relax in the tender embrace of suburban beauties, then, Luohu Forestry Orchard will be your best choice. The Orchard is found in 1986 and now under the direct leadership of the Council of Luohu District and Government of Luohu District. It is located by the beautiful lake of Xianhu, back against Xianhu arboretum. Actually, it is an integrated enterprise majoring in litchi and longan and developing with flowers and vegetable industry. So, yielding fruits is the main income of the forestry orchard, with more than 2000 mu of litchi and longan of high quality. All the fruit trees entering the period of fertility have an annual turnout of 300000 kg. Apart from that, the forestry has strived toward the direction of urban ecological tourism with a full line of recreation and sports facilities in a quiet and ethereal environment. Three kinds of activities 1, One can just enjoy the beautiful and relaxing atmosphere in the garden, wandering hand-in-hand with nature, smelling the sweet aroma of fresh flowers, couching under the shadow of trees, in short, dragging oneself out from the pressure of busy urban lives. 2, Can?t get enough? Not satisfied with just sitting and walking? Fortunately, there is also a green lake artificially built in the garden. Echoing with other beautiful fauna and flora in the garden, it accomplishes the formation of a perfect organic whole. One can just fish by the lake and enjoy this perfect beauty. 3, Moreover, another activity called "Farm of Yourself" help visitors experience the ancient way of life. It is based on the idea of ancient people building huts as their own homes and fencing fields as their gardens. In this activity, visitors can build their farms and grow whatever they like all by themselves. It is especially suitable for children as they can learn the value of labor through this interesting activity. There is a primary school called the Lo Wu Public School. It is located at Lo Wu Village, Ta Ku Ling (打鼓嵿). It was estalished by the people who lived in the village. There is a five words saying in that school - "hardworking (勤), simple (樸), respect (敬), trust (誠)". The website of the school is http://www2.hkedcity.net/sch_files/a/lwu/lwu-admin/public_html/index.htm
zh:羅湖 category:Villages in Hong Kong This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lo Wu".
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