Hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers headed home last night after enjoying the Lunar New Year break.
By midnight the Immigration Department reported that 712,642 people had crossed Hong Kong's land, sea and air borders - 453,537 inbound travellers and 259,105 outbound.
Lowu was the busiest checkpoint, handling more than 218,000 inbound travellers and 102,000 outbound.
During the peak between 4.30pm and 7.30pm at Lowu, the department said about 19,000 travellers an hour were entering Hong Kong from the mainland.
A total of 140 counters were opened at the checkpoint to cater for the travellers yesterday.
Chief immigration officer Ho Ching-yee said they had been prepared for yesterday's rush as most people had to return home from holiday to resume work today.
