Checkpoints packed as HKers return from holiday break

Border crossings saw crowds of people entering the city on Sunday, including tens of thousands of residents returning home from their holiday trips. At the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, many residents headed home after spending time on the mainland for the festive period. Among them was a man surnamed Leung, who travelled to Zhuhai for four days with his family. "The atmosphere on the mainland was very festive. There were a lot of people celebrating, many of them were from Hong Kong," he told RTHK. "I think the festive atmosphere on the mainland was possibly more vibrant than that in Hong Kong." Another Hong Kong resident surnamed Yau said she visited Zhongshan for almost a week. "Travelling to the mainland offers a sense of novelty when you spend every day in Hong Kong... It is much cheaper on the mainland," she said. Over at the Heung Yuen Wai checkpoint, crowds began to form at around 4pm. "There were more and more people at the border... I waited for 10 minutes [to pass through the checkpoint]," a resident said. As of 10am, authorities recorded over 75,000 arrivals at various border control points. The Chek Lap Kok airport saw more than 15,000 inbound trips, while entries to the SAR via Lok Ma Chau and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge each surpassed 10,000. Officials have said they expected inbound travel to peak on Sunday with 695,000 arriving via the land boundary control points.