Two newly opened checkpoints in Futian and Nanshan districts received surprisingly small numbers of cross-border travelers during the past golden week, as tens of thousands of people jammed the Luohu and Huanggang checkpoints.

More than 322,000 travelers used Luohu checkpoint every day on average during the past week. In contrast, only 26,863 people used the Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint daily.

The Shenzhen Bay and Futian checkpoints, which opened in July and August respectively, were opened to ease the congestion at the older checkpoints.

Tourists using the two new checkpoints needed between five and seven minutes to cross, while those using Luohu and Huanggang had to spend at least one hour to get through.

A cross-border passenger surnamed Chen told the Shenzhen Daily that he preferred to use the Huanggang Checkpoint, which he was familiar with, instead of the Futian Checkpoint.

Chen cited the lack of transport connections as the main reason why the new checkpoints were shunned by travelers.

(Shenzhen Daily October 8, 2007)