Since the mainland and Hong Kong resumed quarantine-free travel on February 6, more than 22.4 million visits, or about 900,000 every week, were made to Shenzhen through six land border crossings by late July.

Hong Kong residents made 4.68 million trips across the border in July alone, an increase of 210,000 on the previous month, Immigration Department statistics show.

The trend caught the attention of Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, who acknowledged that a discernible change in spending patterns of mainland visitors to Hong Kong, and the growing number of Hongkongers travelling to the mainland, especially at weekends, were fresh problems for the city’s economic recovery.

Unlike visitors before the Covid-19 pandemic, mainland Chinese visitors now prefer to experience authentic Hong Kong neighbourhoods instead of spending heavily on shopping.

Chan said Hong Kong needed new ideas and innovation in its offerings and marketing.

The government earlier this month tightened its economic growth forecast for the full year to 4-5 per cent from the previous 3.5-5.5 per cent following weaker-than-expected growth in the second quarter.

But economist Terence Chong Tai-leung, executive director of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Institute of Global Economics and Finance, said the surging number of Hongkongers spending across the border did not threaten the recovery of the city.

“The key to economic growth relies largely on the inflow of capital, which means Hong Kong needs more financial transactions,” he explained.

He said that retail and catering contributed a relatively small amount to recovery and city residents did not necessarily spend more in Hong Kong if they did not travel across the border.

Although the stronger Hong Kong dollar meant that HK$1,000 was now worth about 920 yuan compared to around 880 yuan in 2019, Chong said Hongkongers were going to Shenzhen because it was easier and cheaper to travel there, not mainly because of the exchange rate.

“People now can take a bus to Heung Yuen Wai for just HK$2 and arrive at Liantang district of Shenzhen. The round trip only costs HK$4,” he said, referring to Hong Kong’s latest checkpoint in the New Territories.

The government also revamped its HK$2 fare subsidy scheme by lowering the eligible age from 65 to 60, benefiting more than 600,000 residents in the age group of 60 to 64.

“The subway and mall systems are well developed in Shenzhen so that people can simply go wherever they like to eat and for entertainment without paying a lot to commute,” Chong said.

“Shopping in the mainland may not be the main trend, but a variety of cheaper food options are very attractive for travellers.”

‘So easy to get around Shenzhen’

Shenzhen has opened more shopping centres since 2020, including MiX C in Lo Wu, Zhongzhou Wan in Futian and Houhai Harbour in Nanshan, integrating technology, art, youth culture, cuisine and other concepts.

Mainland authorities and one of the largest online payment platforms unveiled more user-friendly arrangements to entice Hongkongers.

Counters set up at checkpoints on the Shenzhen side make it easier for visitors to change currency, QR codes on display help users download mobile payment applications, with free Wi-fi too.

Payment platform AlipayHK revealed that the number of transactions by Hong Kong users in the second quarter more than tripled from the first three months of the year, keeping Shenzhen in the top spot for spending by users.

AlipayHK is a joint venture established by Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the Post.

The Post travelled across the border through the busy Lo Wu crossing on a recent Sunday and joined about 1,000 travellers waiting in long queues to do a mandatory health declaration as there were limited QR code-scanning machines.

Travellers with small bags were previously exempt from X-ray scans on the Shenzhen side, but now everyone had to go through the process, which meant it took about 30 minutes to clear customs.

None of that bothered Hong Kong housewife Lai Yuen-shan, 53, who was there in a group of nine – her family of four and her younger sister’s family of five – who had a total budget of 4,000 yuan for a day of shopping, eating and massages.

“With the current hot weather, Shenzhen’s malls are easily accessible from the subways and interconnected without the need to walk outdoors,” she explained. “Places here are more spacious with a variety of small brands to shop at, not just chain stores.”

She said the two families liked to spend a day in Shenzhen every weekend.

“Last week, we ladies went to get our manicures, while the men went for their dental check-ups,” she said.

Arriving at Futian’s UpperHills shopping centre around lunchtime, the group headed to a Hakka restaurant where they ordered 10 dishes for 580 yuan.

Lai said she could not help but notice the good service as they waited for their tables.

“Waiters arranged an area to serve us tea and snacks and updated us on how much longer we had to wait. I don’t see that very often in Hong Kong where I’m usually simply left alone holding a ticket and waiting outside,” she said.

After their meal, which they were most satisfied with, everyone headed to a massage parlour nearby, where it cost 218 yuan for three hours per person.

“Even though we have to pay a recommended tip of about 120 yuan per person, you can’t find such a splendid renovated parlour and customer service like this in Hong Kong at this price,” Lai said.

Masseuse Xia Ying, 22, who got a job in Shenzhen in March after she completed a training course in massage in her hometown of Zhengzhou in Henan Province, said almost all her weekend customers were from Hong Kong.

“We make only eight yuan an hour when we are assigned a customer. After each massage, I will be at the back of the queue of all my colleagues until my next turn. We make a living pretty much based on customers’ tips and Hongkongers usually tip ranging from 40 to 100 yuan an hour,” she said.

She had at least a dozen loyal customers who made weekend appointments, which meant she did not have to wait her turn in the queue and earned an hourly rate and tips. She said Hong Kong customers’ tips made up four-fifths of her monthly income.

Wang Ji, 35, a driver with mainland ride-hailing platform DiDi, said more than half of his calls at weekends were from Hong Kong visitors and his income had risen by almost a third since the border reopened.

“I work six days a week and most Hong Kong passengers show up at weekends. I made 32 rides last Saturday on a 12-hour shift and I could tell that more than half the passengers were Hongkongers because of the way they spoke Mandarin to me,” he said.

Cheng Lihong, 25, the manager of a Chaoshan-style hotpot restaurant in Huanggang district, said that since March the team of waiters were told to work overtime at weekends as it was packed with Hong Kong visitors from lunchtime to midnight.

“We work a nine-hour shift on weekdays, but 12 to 14 hours on Saturday and Sunday,” she said. “On any Saturday, we can easily have at least 20 groups of people waiting to dine in.”

Manpower crunch hurting Hong Kong F&B

Ray Chui Man-wai, president of the Hong Kong catering sector group the Institute of Dining Art, said the city’s hospitality sector had been hit by the trend towards cross-border trips at weekends.

He explained increased costs, including rent, labour and food supplies had increased significantly, which made things even tougher.

“People in the industry have lamented how quiet their restaurants are from Friday to Sunday, with business down by about 20 per cent compared with weekdays,” he said.

This was “totally opposite” what it was like before the pandemic, said Chui, who is chairman of Kam Kee Holdings, which has 44 restaurants and about 1,000 employees.

Chiu predicted the trend of Hongkongers heading across the border on day trips or spending a night over the weekend would last for a while.

“The cost for catering operators in the mainland is lower so they can set cheaper prices that entice Hong Kong visitors. They’re also able to hire enough manpower to ensure service quality,” he said.

Chui added the government needed to address the staffing crisis soon and speed up its talent recruitment drive to help the city fight back.

“Consumption vouchers and seasonal discounts can only be a short-term boost. Catering and retail operators are facing the same manpower shortage that leads them to shorten their operating hours, resulting in less business and revenues,” he said.

“Special offers, mega events or promotions don’t help if we do not have enough staff to provide service to locals and tourists.”