This week I'd like to talk more about the summary reform and development plan for the Greater Pearl River Region that I discussed in my last column. By 2015, according to the plan, Hong Kong will be plugged in to a regional and national high-speed railway system with 300km/h trains departing every five minutes - like the MTR trains today. Life as we know it will be forever transformed.
Imagine having breakfast at West Kowloon MTR station, then waiting no more than a few minutes before hopping on a train that will reach Shenzhen in about 15 minutes or Guangzhou in less than an hour. Those travelling beyond the provincial capital will be able to board inter-city trains departing every 30 minutes, reaching Changsha in time for lunch and Beijing or Shanghai for dinner.
Such convenient travel will no longer be the monopoly of the super-rich, but affordable for just about everybody.
This new and much improved connectivity - to be made possible by a dense network of inter-city high-speed trains, suburban subways and light-rail networks - will be mind-boggling.
If you want a taste of things to come, visit Japan and try its famed rail system. It is estimated that more than 80 per cent of all travel within that country is via the rail system, and city life tends to centre around stations. A less-extensive version of this is now unfolding in Taiwan, gradually replacing short-haul air travel within the island.
By that time, car owners will be able to drive anywhere on the mainland when temporary licences become readily available at any border checkpoint.
The Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge, also ready by 2015, will carry at least 20,000 cars daily. Through the temporary licence system, tens of thousands of mainland cars and their passengers will flock to Hong Kong.