Chinese troops arriving this afternoon will be billeted to their own barracks for the first time.
Only 19 of the 66 People's Liberation Army soldiers crossing the border today will be stationed alongside British personnel. The rest will split into two groups, at the former Sek Kong station and the Gun Club Hill Barracks in Kowloon.
Those sites, and five more to be occupied by the third PLA advance party at the end of the month, have been handed back to the Government as part of Britain's withdrawal. They will be passed to the mainland garrison on July 1.
It is expected the sites will continue to be guarded by civilian services until the handover.
As part of the agreement, PLA troops may not carry weapons or wear uniforms outside barracks before the handover.
The location of the various parts of the PLA advance parties was one of the sticking points between Britain and China in the negotiations in the Joint Liaison Group.
