Applications to visit restricted Hong Kong frontier town to open next month, with up to 1,000 entry permits available each day from January
- Police also reveal online one-stop platform where travellers and tour groups can apply for permits to visit previously closed off Sha Tau Kok border town
- Applications to open from December 1, with permits for January available to ‘all Hong Kong residents, visitors to Hong Kong and licensed travel agencies’, force adds
Applications will open next month for an expanded entry scheme to a restricted historic town located along the border between Hong Kong and mainland China, with 1,000 spots available under the new daily quota from January.
Police also announced the launch of an online one-stop platform on Friday, which visitors can use to apply for permits to enter closed areas that included the Sha Tau Kok border town, as well as activities such as outdoor photoshoots.
“Starting from December 1, all Hong Kong residents, visitors to Hong Kong and licensed travel agencies can apply for group and individual travel restricted area permits for the whole of January through the online application platform,” acting chief inspector Cheung Ka-man of the force’s operations wing told a press briefing.
Up to 700 people on group tours would be allowed to visit Sha Tau Kok under January’s new daily quota, while another 300 spots would be open to individual visitors, she added.
The permits will allow travellers to remain in the border town from 7am to 9pm. Access to Chung Ying Street, which lies on the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, will remain restricted.