People who passed through the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor on the first day: real estate investors, office workers and foreign tourists

At 3 p.m. on June 30, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan cross-river corridor (hereinafter referred to as the "Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor") announced its trial operation. Citizens in many places in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area are enthusiastic about sightseeing and experiencing this super project.

The popularity on the first day exceeded expectations

At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon of June 30, Chen Xiang, the driver of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan cross-city bus line, drove for about 40 minutes in front of the Cuihengdong toll station at the Zhongshan end of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor. He glanced at the convoy winding up the bridge in front of him, and although he was mentally prepared, he couldn't help but sigh "spectacular".

The reporter of the Economic Observer Network learned on the spot that since the morning of the same day, many citizens of Shenzhen and Zhongshan have gone to the roads near the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor to "check in" and take photos, and many citizens have chosen to take cross-city buses, drive private cars and participate in "one-day tours" to experience the style of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor along the way.

According to the introduction of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor Management Center, as a strategic passage connecting the east and west banks of the Pearl River Estuary in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor lasted 7 years of construction and was 24 kilometers long, setting more than 10 world records in the world's first two-way eight-lane submarine immersed tunnel and the world's largest span offshore suspension bridge. Together with the completed Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Nansha Bridge and Humen Bridge, it forms a group of cross-sea and cross-river passages in the Greater Bay Area, helping the 100-kilometer "Golden Inner Bay" around the Pearl River Estuary to accelerate the formation of a "one-hour commuting circle" and creating a "cross-city senseless" production and living environment. Among them, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor shortens the driving time from Shenzhen to Zhongshan from about 2 hours to about 30 minutes, which is also one of the important reasons why the project has attracted much attention.

A staff member in charge of the overall transportation arrangement of the Zhongshan International Talent Port, which is about 5 kilometers away from the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor, told the Economic Observer that a total of 250 tickets for the Shenzhen-Zhongshan cross-city bus line were issued on the first day of June 30, and they were sold out in advance on June 29.

According to the actual experience of the reporter of the Economic Observer Network, at about 4 p.m. on June 30, the one-way traffic time of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor has exceeded 70 minutes. During the same time period on the same day, the road from Zhongshan to Shenzhen was congested longer than the road from Shenzhen to Zhongshan. By about 1 a.m. on July 1, the one-way traffic time of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor was restored to about 35 minutes.

The above-mentioned staff also said that the citizens of Shenzhen, Zhongshan and surrounding cities have been looking forward to the opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor for a long time, and the popularity on the first day exceeded expectations, and it is believed that the process will be smoother and more perfect in the next few days.

Expectations for the property market

On June 30, Ms. Jiang, a citizen of Shenzhen, told a reporter from the Economic Observer that she deliberately arrived in Zhongshan half a day in advance in order to take the first bus of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan cross-city bus line. She also said that she bought her second commercial house in Cuiheng New District, the closest to the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor, a week ago.

Ms. Jiang said that she and her husband came to work in Shenzhen more than 20 years ago, and now they are considered to be wealthy, and this time they hope to follow the Greater Bay Area to "stand on the shoulders of giants and develop together".

According to Ms. Jiang, her home in Shenzhen was included in the old reform plan earlier, and there was no comfortable living environment for the time being, and she could not continue to buy a house in Shenzhen due to qualification restrictions, so she bought a house in Zhongshan in 2020 and 2024, with an indoor area of more than 130 square meters and a unit price of about 20,000 yuan per square meter.

On the same day, the reporter of the Economic Observer Network saw a number of "house viewing" tourist buses with the name of the real estate in Zhongshan City on the road from Shenzhen to Zhongshan in the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor.

"Intend to buy a house here, within a year." When asked whether the opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor has had an impact on his life, Mr. Lin replied directly. Mr. Lin, a 30-year-old who works in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, drove from Shenzhen to Zhongshan on June 29 to attend a friend's wedding, and chose to take an intercity bus back to Shenzhen on June 30.

Mr. Lin told the Economic Observer reporter that he is a native of Jieyang, Guangdong, and has been working in Shenzhen since graduating from university, and has plans to buy a house in the past two years. He said that he currently lives in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, which is closer to the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor, and the local housing prices are three to four times that of Zhongshan Cuiheng New District, so the pressure to buy a house is greater.

"I drove from Shenzhen (Zhongshan) for 3 hours yesterday, and if the (cross-city) bus is stable at about 1 hour, it will be very convenient, and the fare is about 15 yuan." Mr. Lin said. He also believes that the opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor will be beneficial to Zhongshan's future economic development, and the purchase of houses will not only meet the needs of self-occupation, but also realize a certain investment value.

Bringing Bay Area life closer

On June 30, a reporter from the Economic Observer Network saw at the departure site of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan cross-city bus that most of the passengers on the first day were young office workers living near the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor.

Ms. Hu told the Economic Observer that she and her husband are both from Zhongshan, but the husband and wife have lived separately in Zhongshan and Dongguan for many years. She said that her husband had lived in Dongguan for a long time for a high-paying job, and she could only work and live in Zhongshan because she needed the help of her father-in-law and mother-in-law to take care of a pair of children.

"The cross-city bus ticket was the experience ticket that my daughter grabbed, and it was free. The family was going to Shenzhen to have some fun, and the child's father met us in Shenzhen. Ms. Hu said. She continued that in the past, she and her family traveled back and forth between Zhongshan and Dongguan via the Humen Bridge, and often stuck in traffic jams on holidays to "doubt life", and believed that the opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor could alleviate the pain points of traffic between the two places. At the same time, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor also makes it easier for them to travel to and from Shenzhen, making the children's holiday more fun.

Li Xiao is a "post-zero" Jiangxi girl. She is currently conducting research in pharmacy with her graduate supervisor at the Zhongshan Life Science Park, which is about 9 kilometers away from the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor.

On June 30, Li Xiao told the Economic Observer reporter that she only came to Zhongshan City this year, and before that, she studied in Hangzhou and Shanghai in the first year of her bachelor's and master's degrees, and was more accustomed to the living environment of the Yangtze River Delta. "We also have some senior brothers and sisters here, and everyone is doing experiments most of the time from Monday to Saturday, from morning to night, and they will only come out to play on Sundays, but life on the island (Ma'an Island, Cuiheng New District) is too inconvenient and a little boring." She said.

Li Xiao said that she is a person who likes to be lively, yearns to live in a place with a strong business atmosphere, and can go shopping and shopping at any time when she gets off work or on vacation, but now Saddle Island makes her feel like an isolated island. "The price of eating and buying things is higher than that in Shanghai, maybe because it is not so convenient to transport all kinds of materials." She said that her research work in Zhongshan for the next two years will be in Zhongshan, but she still looks forward to returning to Shanghai, feeling that the quality of life in the Yangtze River Delta is higher with the same income.

The opening of the Shenzhong Passage alleviated some of Li Xiao's loneliness. She said that her boyfriend is engaged in financial work in Shenzhen, and the cost of meeting in a "long-distance relationship" in the future can be shortened from half a day to 1 hour, "Today is to make an appointment for dinner in Shenzhen, and I will go back to Zhongshan in the evening."

Attract international tourists

On the evening of June 30, Mr. Hu told the Economic Observer that he and his wife are Singaporeans, and they started their trip to China about a week ago, and the first stop landed in Hong Kong.

Mr. Hu said that this is his first visit to China after the epidemic, "I like Chinese culture very much, I often travel before the epidemic, and the last time I visited the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, it was very powerful, and the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor is even more powerful."

"I feel better this time." Mr. Hu said that they saw propaganda about the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor on the Internet and decided to go to Zhongshan through the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor to visit the local Sun Yat-sen Former Residence Memorial Hall. During this period, he communicated with the BYD brand taxi driver about the daily use of electric vehicles in China, technology iteration and other issues.

Mr. Hu said that he bought BYD electric vehicles through an agent in Singapore three years ago, and the overall experience was very good, and he was very surprised to see more new Chinese electric vehicles during his trip to China.

"Half a month ago, my BYD electric car battery was broken, and the agent said that there was no need to spend money during the warranty period, but so far I have not been provided with a detailed inspection report on the vehicle, which is where I think the service is not perfect enough." He said.

The above-mentioned taxi driver also told reporters that because of this order from Singapore tourists, he could finish work 5 hours early. The driver said that according to the usual practice, he left the car at about 10:30 a.m. and needed to work until the early hours of the morning (about 15 hours) to earn 600 yuan to 700 yuan, and he had already completed his daily workload around 9 p.m. that day.

(At the request of the interviewee, Chen Xiang and Li Xiao are pseudonyms in the article)