Lo Wu (Traditional Chinese: 羅湖; Simplified Chinese: 罗湖; Cantonese IPA: /lɔ₁₁ wʊ₁₁/, Jyutping: lo4 wu4; Mandarin Pinyin: Luóhú) is an area in North District, New Territories, Hong Kong, bordering the Luohu District of Shenzhen, Guangdong, People's Republic of China. Lo Wu is well-known for being a primary border crossing between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and mainland China. Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiǎntǐzì; also called 简化字/簡化字, jiǎnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Standard Cantonese refers to the most prestigious dialect of Cantonese. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet. ... Jyutping (Traditional Chinese: 粵拼; Simplified Chinese: 粤拼; pinyin: yuèpÄ«n; Yale: yuhtpÄ«ng; sometimes spelled Jyutpin) is a romanization system for Standard Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK) in 1993. ... Standard Mandarin is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China on Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. ... Pinyin (拼音, pÄ«nyÄ«n) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin. ... North District (北區) is the northernmost district of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. ... The New Territories (Chinese: æ–°ç•Œ, Pinyin: XÄ«njiè) is the area of land in Hong Kong, north of the Kowloon peninsula, south of Shenzhen He / Shum Chun River (深圳河) and Hong Kongs outlying islands (including Lantau Island, Lamma Island, Cheung Chau, and Peng Chau), leased from Qing China to Britain in... This article needs cleanup. ... Evening skyline of Shenzhen. ... Guangdong (Simplified Chinese: 广东; Traditional Chinese: 廣東; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kuang-tung; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangtung or Canton Province, Jyutping: gwong2 dung1), is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... A Special Administrative Region (SAR) (Simplified Chinese: 特别行政区; Traditional Chinese: 特別行政區; pinyin: tèbié xíngzhèngqÅ«; Cantonese IPA: /tɐk6piːt6 hɐŋ4tsɪŋ3kʰɵy1/; Jyutping: dak6bit6 hang4zing3keoi1; Yale: dahkbiht hàhngjingkeÅ«i) is a political subdivision of the Peoples Republic of China. ... In this map of China, the light-coloured areas represent Mainland China, while yellow coloured area refers to Taiwan. ...

Location

The area of Lo Wu is within Close Area of the land border, which is made up of the Sham Chun River (Shenzhen River) and the Sha Tau Kok River. The Luohu District of Shenzhen opposites Lo Wu across the Sham Chun River. Sham Chun River (also Shenzhen River, Shenzhen He) (Chinese: 深圳河; Cantonese IPA: ; Jyutping: sam1 zan3 ho4; Hanyu Pinyin: Shēnzhèn Hé), together with the Sha Tau Kok River, serves as the natural border between Hong Kong and mainland China. ...

The border crossing facility is only accessible by the Lo Wu Station of the KCR East Rail. For those who are not residents within the Close Area, and are not crossing the border, a Closed Area Permit is required. Applications for a Closed Area Permits outside the Closed Area can be at the Sheung Shui Police station in Fanling Closed Area application form Lo Wu (羅湖站) is the northern terminus of the KCR East Rail of Hong Kong. ... Opening Date 10 October 1911 Stations 14 Number of trains 37 Service Area North, Tai Po, Sha Tin, Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City The East Rail (東鐵) is one of the three lines of the KCR network in Hong Kong. ...

KCR East Rail Lo Wu Station

(Lo Wu Terminal Building)

Main article: Lo Wu (KCR)

Background information Lo Wu (ç¾…æ¹–ç«™) is the northern terminus of the KCR East Rail of Hong Kong. ...

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.

Land boundary control point

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) from Hong Kong for mainland China, 90% go 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. In this map of China, the light-coloured areas represent Mainland China, while yellow coloured area refers to Taiwan. ... Sha Tau Kok (traditional Chinese: 沙頭角) is a town in the northeastern corner of Hong Kong. ...

Lo Wu is the most popular border crossing for people travelling to mainland China because most people would take the KCR East Rail which is more convenient compared to other means of transport. By passing through Lo Wu, one can reach the busiest commercial zone of Shenzhen in the shortest period of time. Opening Date 10 October 1911 Stations 14 Number of trains 37 Service Area North, Tai Po, Sha Tin, Yau Tsim Mong, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City The East Rail (東鐵) is one of the three lines of the KCR network in Hong Kong. ...

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. It is advisable to fill in the form before entering the arrival hall. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is an atypical form of pneumonia. ...

Starting from 5 July 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. July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

24-hour border crossing through Lo Wu

In mid-December 2002, the Hong Kong government announced that Lok Ma Chau immigration control point shall take the lead to provide round-the-clock passenger service just before Chinese New Year. Vehicles and container trucks have already been moving both ways throughout the night at this control point. A banner of the celebration of Chinese New Year. ...

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 has once said that it is absolutely impossible to run railway services round-the-clock because of the difficulties in maintenance. This new policy has both advantages and disadvantages. It is clear that trade and transportat and logistic links between mainland 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 mainland China. One of the examples is family problem. Michael Tien Puk Sun (田北辰) is the younger brother of legislator James Tien Pei Chun. ... Inside Nexus Distribution, a United States logistics provider. ...

The 29th Sept 2001 incident

On September 29, 2001, 200 passengers on a train which should have been terminated in Sheung Shui insisted in going to Lo Wu. Since this train affected the operation of other trains at the time, KCR directed the train to proceed to Lo Wu with passengers on board and later alerted the police. September 29 is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Sheung Shui is the second last railway station on the KCR East Rail in Hong Kong. ... Lo Wu (ç¾…æ¹–ç«™) is the northern terminus of the KCR East Rail of Hong Kong. ...

After the police 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, KCR made special arrangements to allow them to stay on the station platform to wait for the resumption of immigration clearance service in the morning.

Safety problems at the land boundary control point

Lo Wu is within the Close Area along the long border. 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 (Chinese name: 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. Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ...

Developments in Lo Wu

Due to its strategic location as a gateway to Hong Kong and in the CBD of Shenzhen, the Luohu District has flourished with many top-grade office building. Nevertheless the Lo Wu area in Hong Kong is remote to the city centre, and far from urban development. As it is lying within the Close Area, access is restricted, development is impossible and the area has largely remained rural. Relatively cheaper prices of durable goods, gourmet and entertainment in the Shenzhen side has hit the retailing industry of Hong Kong, particularly to Sheung Shui and Fanling in the North District. CBD may stand for: Customer and Deposit System Development Central business district Convention on Biological Diversity Cannabidiol, a cannabinoid from Cannabis sativa (hemp). ... Sheung Shui is part of the Fanling-Sheung Shui new town in Hong Kong. ... Fanling is an area of Hong Kong. ... North District (北區) is the northernmost district of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. ...

Improvement Projects in Lo Wu

Sham Chun River

Main article: Sham Chun River Sham Chun River (also Shenzhen River, Shenzhen He) (Chinese: 深圳河; Cantonese IPA: ; Jyutping: sam1 zan3 ho4; Hanyu Pinyin: Shēnzhèn Hé), together with the Sha Tau Kok River, serves as the natural border between Hong Kong and mainland China. ...

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. September 20 is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years). ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

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

Short-term improvement works at the Lo Wu Bridge (羅湖橋), a footbridge across Sham Chun River linking Hong Kong and Shenzhen, have been completed according to schedule, giving travellers more convenience during the Lunar New Year peak. ... A banner of the celebration of Chinese New Year. ...

At a total cost of about HK$ 2.3 million, 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. The Hong Kong Dollar (ISO 4217: HKD) is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) within the Peoples Republic of China. ...

At a site briefing Friday, Alan Chu, Principal Assistant Secretary for Security of Hong Kong, 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 25 July last year. July 25 is the 206th day (207th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 159 days remaining. ...

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.

Correctional institution

It is a minimum security institution. It was established on 1997. It is situated at 163 Ho Sheung Heung Road. 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. Rehabilitation is the restoration of lost capabilities, or the treatment aimed at producing it. ...

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.

Sports: horse-riding

The Lo Wu Saddle Club, a horse riding establishment that is open to members as well as the general public, is situated at Ho Sheung Heung (河上鄉).

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. The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ...

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.

Education

There is a primary school called the Lo Wu Public School. It is located at Lo Wu Village. 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)"[1]

External links

• Map of Lo Wu
• KCRC
• Lo Wu Saddle Club
• Details of Lo Wu from HK-place.com