From Hong Kong airport to Shenzhen

At Hong Kong Airport, it has several ways to reach Shenzhen. There is quite a lot of information available via the website of the HK Airport, but for exact information you still need to visit some Chinese websites. This post will provide you with all information you need to easily make it across the border.

Ferry
The ferry sails from 09:00 to 21:20 (schedule ). Tickets cost about RMB260 one way for adults. The ferry goes to Shekou. If that’s your final destination (or the greater Nanshan area), it’s a good choice to take the ferry. 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.

SkyPier at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) provides speedy ferry service for transit passengers, making HKIA a truly multi-modal transport hub for convenient air and sea travel.

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.

Insider Tips: 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.

Bus
The HKIA website has a good information of bus. (tip: pdf with practical information )
Coach services are available at the Mainland Coach Station of Terminal 2. Regular services depart from the airport between 0700 and 2300 to destinations such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Huizhou, Foshan and Zhongshan.

At Hong Kong International Airport, there are three coach operators providing mainland China coach service. Their ticketing counters are located at the Arrivals Hall in Terminal 1(facing Exit A) and the Coach Station in Terminal 2. Passengers can relax at the Mainland Coach Lounge before boarding.

• Service hours : 7am to 11pm
• Frequency : Every 10 minutes during peak hours
• Destinations : Major PRD cities such as Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Foshan, Huizhou and Nanning at Guangxi.

The three bus operators are:

• China Travel Tours Transportation Services (CTS, logo is a red star)
• Eternal East Cross-Border Coach (E&E, green logo)
• Go Go Bus (logo is a brown ‘W’ in a circle)

Buy a Bus Ticket

The ticketing counters are located at the Arrivals Hall in Terminal 1 (A08-A10) (facing Exit A) and the Coach Station in Terminal 2 (C15-C17). (see more details below)

Here you can buy bus tickets from either of the bus operators. After you bought tickets, you go to the Coach Station in Terminal 2 where you can board your bus.

Bus schedules and prices:

CTS bus to Shenzhen (english)

• Destination: Huanggang Border (use this to visit me in Futian), Shenzhen BaoAn Airport, Shenzhen Shangri-La Hotel and other ShenZhen Hotels

• Departure time: 07:05 / 08:05 / 09:05 / 10:05 / 11:05 / 12:05 / 13:05 / 14:05 / 15:05 / 16:05 / 17:05 / 18:05 / 19:05 / 20:05 / 21:05 / 22:0

• Ticket counter: A04, A09, C05 (or C16?)

• Price tickets: 100HK$ northbound (but the first 2 and last 3 busses are more expensive: 150HK$) and 130HK$ southbound.

Trans Island to Shenzhen (chinese)

• Destination: Huanggang Border
• Departure time: 09:45 / 10:30 / 11:15 / 11:45 / 12:15 / 12:45 / 13:15  / 13:45 / 14:30 / 15:15 / 15:45 / 16:15 / 16:45 / 17:30 / 18:15 / 19:00 / 19:45 / 20:50 / *21:50
• Ticket counter: A10, C15
• Price tickets: 100HK$ to HuangGang, 130-150HK$ for destinations inside Shenzhen

From Shenzhen (HuangGang) back to Hong Kong airport
Took the taxi to HuangGang custom in the morning around 06:15 and planned to walk across the footbridge to the custom and then take the 07:15 bus to HK airport, but it turned out that before you walk up the footbridge, you can already buy tickets for taxis to Hong Kong airport. The price is 150RMB per person and you have to wait a little while till the car is full.

The cars are registered in HK (so the driver sits on the right side) and can contain about 6 people. You can buy an official ticket in a small kiosk and the price is fixed. They said you don’t need to get off the car anymore at the border, so that’s very convenient. The taxi takes about 1 hour from Huanggang to HK airport.

Other options of reaching Shenzhen, besides Hong Kong

Visitors can fly either to Shenzhen Airport or to Guangzhou Airport. Shenzhen airport is mainly used for flights to other Chinese cities, but there are a few other destinations outside China. Guangzhou has many more options though and you can often buy international tickets to Guangzhou.

When you fly from Amsterdam to Guangzhou, the airplane will make a stop in Beijing. Most flights will do a stop-over in Beijing or Shanghai. There are flights from the airport to virtually everywhere in the world. Within China, there are numerous flights per day to Beijing (4hr), Shanghai (2hr), Xian (2hr 30 mins), Guangzhou(30 mins), Guillin (1hr), and Xiamen (1hr). Hong Kong is a notoriously expensive airport to fly out of however. For HKIA you can find more direct flights. If you are on a budget, it might be an option to try to find a cheap ticket to Beijing or Shanghai for example, and then use a cheap domestic flight to Shenzhen. You can find domestic tickets on these English websites:

• CTrip
• Elong

HuangGang practical advice:
The border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen in Futian district is called “HuangGang” in HongKong they might call it 關口 (border, traditional Chinese) or 皇崗口岸 . They will probably always understand when you say HuangGang (remember that H sounds a bit like in Spanish, like a soft G sound). When you get off at HuangGang border (from HK to Shenzhen), you need to pass custom and then walk over a footbridge over the road. On the other side of the footbridge, you can walk down left and take a taxi. If you go from Shenzhen to HK, you can walk up the footbridge, or just take a taxi as explained above.

Useful links and Numbers
If you are looking for information on transport in and around Hong Kong, please feel free to contact the appropriate service provider. Their contact details are as follows.