Eighteen immigration auto-gates at Lo Wu control checkpoint have become operational and are expected to provide smooth and efficient traveler clearance during the Easter holiday.
   
Also known as e-channels, the gates were first launched at Lo Wu departure hall in December. Nine more opened in the arrival hall since March 21. A total of 18 are now in operation, nine in each direction, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily, according to a government press release Friday.
   
So far, permanent citizens, aged 11 or the above, who hold Hong Kong smart identity cards, can use the e-channels to perform self-clearance.
   
Up to March 23, more than 680,000 people had used the e-channels at Lo Wu. Most were able to place their thumbs flat on the center of the scanner and pass through the e-channel smoothly.
   
The Immigration Department said the scanner's ability to read thumb or fingerprints will be affected if users' appendages are too dry or too moist. A moist or dry tissue should be used to clean them before scanning.
   
Lo Wu is the most busy cross boundary checkpoint in Hong Kong and Friday is the first day of the four-day Easter holidays, when more Hong Kong citizens plan to travel to the Chinese mainland destinations

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2005)