When you arrive at Hong Kong Airport, there are several options to reach your final destination in Shenzhen. There is quite a lot of information available via the website of the Airport, but for exact information you still need to visit some Chinese websites. This guide will provide you with all information you need to easily make it across the border :)

Q: Ferry or Bus?

A: In general I suggest taking the bus:

The ferry sails from 09:00 to 21:20 (English link ). Tickets cost about 260RMB one way for adults (prices ). The ferry goes to Shekou. If that's your final destination (or the greater Nanshan area), it's fine to take the boat. If you want to go to Futian or Luohu, then you still need to take a bus or taxi from Shekou. The subway line starting from the ferry pier is not yet finished.

There are several bus operators, tickets range from 100-160RMB one way for adults. You can take busses to the border (Huanggang), or into Shenzhen to various major hotels. More details about busses below.

My advice: if you need to go to Shekou, just take the boat. If you go elsewhere - or just want to save some money - just take the bus.

On the 2nd of July 2009 the first airport waiting hall inside Shenzhen Special Economic Zone opened. The building is located in Futian district and is a huge glass structure. I pass it everyday on my way to work and it looks very modern and advanced. Travelers using the Shenzhen airport can check in for their flights, buy tickets and insurance and read the latest information about inbound and outbound flights on a digital screen. There are 600 free parking spaces for people who fly from Shenzhen Airport.

Shenzhen has 10 checkpoints in total, composed of eight land ports and two sea ports. The five most well-known land ports are:

• Shatoujiao,
  
• Luohu,
  
• Huanggang,
  
• Futian and
  
• Shenzhen Bay,
  

And the two sea ports:

• Shekou and
  
• Fuyong passenger terminals.

Shenzhen and Hong Kong have decided to build a new checkpoint to link Liantang in Luohu with Heung Yuen Wai in Hong Kong’s New Territories. The 9.6-billion-yuan (US$1.4 billion) checkpoint will be ready by 2018 and designed to enable vehicles from other cities to cross the border without entering downtown Shenzhen. According to preliminary estimates, the checkpoint will handle 28,000 container trailers a day.

Luohu Checkpoint is the busiest checkpoint with Hong Kong. Huanggang checkpoint in Futian District is the next most used crossing. Huanggang custom was put into service Dec. 26, 1989, and now Asia’s largest land port, it was put into service for the sole use of vehicles. It opened to foot traffic Aug. 8, 1991. It became China’s first checkpoint to offer around-the-clock cross-border service for passengers Jan. 27, 2003. It now normally takes 10 seconds for a vehicle to pass through the automatic clearance system.

source : SzDaily

Shenzhen airlines is a Chinese budget airline that flies from Shenzhen airport in Bao'an district. Shenzhen airlines currently flies to most Chinese cities and some international destinations in Asia (Hong Kong, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka,Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Seoul, Jakarta).

The airline’s first Shenzhen-Bangkok flight took off from the Shenzhen airport late on the 1st of April 2009, spearheading the expansion of an air network planned to cover most Asian countries.  A round-trip tickets to Bangkok costs 700 yuan (US$102) according to a spokesman. Seven routes to Singapore, Hanoi in Vietnam, Sabah in Malaysia, Phuket in Thailand, Manila in the Philippines, Phnom Penh in Cambodia and Dhaka in Bangladesh will be launched in 2009, while five more routes to cities including Jarkata, Siem Reap and Busan will begin in 2010. In 2011, the network will expand to four other cities such as Tokyo, New Delhi and Jeju Island in South Korea. (source )

Shenzhen Airlines website

Via Shekou, Shenzhen is connected by fast ferry connections to Zhuhai, Macau, Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong Kowloon and Hong Kong Island (Central). Currently there is a lot of construction work going on near the Pier in Shenzhen because of the extension of the Metro system.

There are many buses in the city and all connections are good, but bus signs are only in the Chinese (no pinyin). Without a good map of Shenzhen or without speaking Chinese it is very difficult to use the bus. Buses are often overcrowded during rush hours. Depending on the type of bus (new air-conditioning buses are most expensive) and the distance it costs between 1 and 6 yuan.

Update:  since the start of 2008 it is possible to use a special transport card (for sale in the subway) for ALL busses in Shenzhen. You first need to save for example 100Y in the card. When you take the bus, there are two possibilities:

- some busses have a fixed fare rate. In those busses you need to 'beep' your card in the front of the bus.

- all other busses have variable rates. In these busses a ticket lady will ask you where you want to go. Make sure you know the name of the stop in Chinese! She carries a portable scanner and you need to hold out your transport card so she can 'beep' it. 

tip: be very careful of your posessions in crowded buses or at bus stops. Thiefs often try to strike here! 

Finding the bus number; there is no English language website to lookup busnumbers I believe, but there is a very good Chinese website that is relatively new: www.chachaba.com. Also see my Shenzhen map page for more information about chachaba.

Taxi's in Shenzhen are relatively expensive with a starting fee of 12.5¥. Taxi's are seperated in three different classes by their color: red taxi's are allowed to operate everywhere in Shenzhen, green taxis only outside the Special Economical Zone and yellow taxi's only inside the SEZ.

tip: pay attention that you don't get fake money from the taxi drivers! If possible, pay exact or small money so you will not get a fake bill of 50 yuan back! Also make sure the taxi-driver starts the meter; sometimes they refuse to do so. Just get out and take the next taxi. 

Since 2004 Shenzhen also has a modern metro-system. The metro consists currently of fives lines (two are operational, three are under construction):

1. Luobao Line : Line One runs between the Luohu Border Checkpoint to the Windows of the World (Shi Jie Zhi Chuang), from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. It operates at 6-minute frequency during rush hours and up-to-11-minute frequencies at other times. This line will be extended to Shenzhen Airport. The first part of the extension will open in September 2009. Update August 2009: added photo of the new extension map.
2. Shekou Line : Under construction (in 2008): To Shekou (including the Ferry terminal)
   
3. Longgang Line : Under construction (in 2008): Old Street to Longgang
4. Longhua Line: Line Four runs from Huang Gang to the Children's Palace (Shao Nian Gong). It operates at 17-minute frequency from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
5. Huanzhong Line : Under construction (in 2008): Shenzhen West Railway Station to Tangkeng

Before you take the metro, you have to buy either a precharged subway card or a one-time use green token. The ticket vending machines are all bilingual and are very easy to use with touch-screens. You simply press your destination and insert money. The maximum fare is currently 5Y for one way Luohu to Window of the World. The metro is a very fast, clean and safe way to travel in Shenzhen.

The main trainstation of Shenzhen (called Shenzhen Railway Station)  is in Luohu district near the border with Hong Kong. It has regular services to Guangzhou  and long-distance trains to Beijing,  Shanghai, Jiujiang, Maoming, Shantou and other destinations. Also to Hong Kong there are several trains leaving at the crossing near Luo Wu. It takes about 40 minutes by train to the center of Hong Kong and the price is about 37HK$. The trainstation has only six lines and is extremely crowded at peak times such as Chinese New Year.

The second railway station (Shenzhen Xi) is in Nanshan District and is mainly used for a smaller numbe of long-distance routes.

update december 2008:

Shenzhen government has announced that Shenzhen will build a new 4.3- billion-yuan (US$632-million) railway station in Longhua (Bao’an District) within three years.  The railway station, which will be called Shenzhen North Railway Station, will be the largest railway station in Shenzhen when it is completed in June 2011. According to the plan, the station will have 11 platforms and 20 lines, mainly Shenzhen-Guangzhou and other inter-city express lines.  The station is expected to cut the journey between Longhua and western Kowloon in Hong Kong to 16 minutes. The journey between Longhua and Guangzhou, meanwhile, will be cut to 25 minutes.

tip: Train Schedule Search

Although most foreign visitors to Shenzhen fly to Hong Kong or Guangzhou, Shenzhen also has an international airport.  Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport (code SZX) is situated in Bao'an district, a little more than 30 km from the city center of Shenzhen. The airport was opened in 1991 and has148 Chinese and 11 international destinations. Over 10 million passengers use the airport yearly and there is a ferry connection with HK International Airport so people can transfer flights without having to check-in again. Shenzhen's airport is the fourth airport of mainland China (after Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing) and is the 81st in the world for passengers and 37th for cargo traffic.