By Tang Guhan
The World’s longest sea-crossing bridge, the Hong Kong-Macao-Zhuhai Bridge, was officially open to the public on Wednesday morning.
The bridge took nine years to build. It is 55-kilometers long, connecting Hong Kong in the east while Zhuhai and Macao in the west.
The driving from Hong Kong to Macao and Zhuhai will be shortened from three hours to only 45 minutes through the bridge.
Chinese experts said it would inevitably bring convenient travels and communication between the three places.
The tickets for city buses running from Zhuhai to Hong Kong and Macao to Hong Kong across the bridge are 58 yuan (8.36 U.S. dollars) in the daytime and 63 yuan (9.08 U.S. dollars) at night.
Zhuhai is a beautiful seaside city located near Macao, a world-renown recreational city and Hong Kong is famous for finance and trade.
While another high-speed rail serving the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong routes carries only passengers, the new bridge serves both passengers and cargo, going directly from Zhuhai and Macao to Hong Kong.
Analysts said Hong Kong’s education and high-tech talents would be helpful to Zhuhai’s economic development.
Zhuhai and Shenzhen are of importance to the Guangzhou Province, which is the number one province regarding its GDP. Around 80 percent of its GDP is from the Pearl River Delta, including Zhuhai, Shenzhen and another 12 cities.
In spite of similar geographical advantages, with Zhuhai close to Macao and Shenzhen abut to Hong Kong, the economic development of Zhuhai is falling behind its counterpart Shenzhen.
Experts said the sea-crossing bridge would exert a more positive influence on Zhuhai through exchanges of talents and services, especially in the financial industry.
