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I am a citizen of one of the countries (France) eligible for a 144-hour visa-free transit in some areas of Mainland China. I understand that to be granted the visa-free entry, I must have an onward ticket to a destination that is different from where I came from when entering Mainland China.

I am trying to understand the permissible exit ports when entering Guangdong Province via one of the permissible entry ports. china-briefing.com states that there are 32 admissible exit ports in Guangdong Province (land, sea, and air). I found the list of these 32 ports on fruitexpo.cn (formatting is mine):

The 32 ports in Guangdong Province are:

  • five airport airports in Guangzhou Baiyun, Shenzhen, Meizhou, Zhanjiang and Jieyang Chaoshan;

  • four railway ports in Guangzhou Tianhe, Dongguan Changping, Foshan and Zhaoqing;

  • eight highway ports in Shenzhen, namely Wenjindu, Shatoujiao, Huanggang, Luohu, Shenzhen Bay, Futian, Zhuhai Gongbei and Hengqin;

  • and a total of 15 ports and harbours, including Guangzhou Harbour, Nansha Harbour, Lianhuashan Harbour, Shekou Wharf, Shenzhen Airport Supporting Terminal, Jiuzhou Harbour, Wanzhai, Wanshan Harbour, Doumen Harbour, Jiangmen Harbour, Heshan Harbour, Foshan Gaoming Harbour, Shunde Passenger Harbour, Zhongshan Harbour, and Dongguan Humen Port.

What's the Luohu highway port in Shenzhen? I am familiar with the Luohu port at the Luohu station, but I don't recall any highway there: travelers are just crossing the border by foot, typically after/before taking the train on the Hong Kong side.

I also don't see any mention of highways on the Wikipedia page about the Luohu port:

It is served by Shenzhen railway station of the Guangshen Railway (formerly the Canton-Kowloon Railway Chinese Section), and Luohu station of the Shenzhen Metro, whereas its counterpart in Hong Kong is interconnected with Lo Wu station on the East Rail line, formerly the Kowloon-Canton Railway British Section.

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    In legal contexts "highway" just means "public way" without regard to the nature of the traffic.
    – phoog
    Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 12:10
  • @phoog thanks, I didn't know Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 13:03

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I believe it's a mistranslation. Luohu has no road. There's the main footbridge for travelers, and the railway bridge + (restricted access) footbridge.

They were probably trying to express something along the lines of "non-aviation, non-maritime, road-like".

But I wonder how some of these can be used by someone on a TWOV, as they wouldn't have a ticket to HK.

In places like Huanggang, SZBay, Shatoujiao, you can cross the border on a cross-border bus, indeed carrying a ticket with a seat number. These buses usually come from somewhere in Guangdong, and you can buy a ticket either at their point of origin, or at the border crossing, for the Shenzhen-HK segment. There are also some ticketing offices in HK.

But unless you have a friend who can buy it for you ahead of time, and send it to you, good luck.

The other solution is to buy a cross-border train ticket, crossing in Futian (I believe there aren't any passenger Kowloon - Guangzhou trains anymore) but you need to present your passport at the ticket counter, in person (tickets are nominative). So not ideal, to say the least...

Actually, the list above seems to be old, as it doesn't list the Futian HSR station, separate from the Futian (pedestrian) port.

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    Thanks, yes exactly, if Luohu highway port = the Luohu port at the Luohu station, then what kind of onward tickets can be used for a 144h visa-free transit in Guangdong Province and leaving via the Luohu port? Commented Nov 18, 2023 at 4:24
  • It's not necessarily a mistranslation. A traditional, if increasingly obscure, sense of "highway" is "a public way" with no implication concerning the type of traffic for which the way is designed or designated.
    – phoog
    Commented Nov 21, 2023 at 12:00
  • The HS trains from Kowloon West to Guanzhou are running again as of early this year. Clear customs in Kowloon when China-bound. Can be purchased online (as I did recently). Your passport gets you through the gates. Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 20:49
  • The Kowloon-Guangzhou train I mention is the Hung Hom-Guangzhou East line. That hasn't restarted.
    – dda
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 21:44
  • And in Kowloon West you clear Chinese Immigration.
    – dda
    Commented Nov 26, 2023 at 21:53

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