Lo Wu

:"This article is about an area in Hong Kong. For the area in Shenzhen, China under the same Chinese name, please see Luohu."Lo Wu or Lowu is an area located in North District, New Territories in the Hong Kong. It lies on the borders of the Luohu District within Hong Kong and the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong Province. Lo Wu is a primary port of entry to Hong Kong from Shenzhen.

History

Lo Wu (羅湖) was known as 螺湖 (Lo Wu, lit. shell lake) in Cantonese language. 羅(lo) and 螺(lo) are two characters with same consonant and vowel but of different tones.

Lo Wu was mentioned in the list of withdrawn villages during Qing era against remaining resistance of former Ming.

Location

Lowu is located at junction of Sheung Yue River and Sham Chun River. East of Lowu is a hill name Sandy Ridge, known indigenous as Sha Ling, which is one of major cemetery of Hong Kong. The entire Lo Wu area was divided in 1898 by the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory.

Between 1898 and 1949, there was no border patrol in the area, as people are free to travel between Hong Kong and Mainland China. In 1952, in an effort to combat illegal immigration and smuggling, the Hong Kong Government establish the Frontier Closed Area, which includes the Lo Wu area.

The border crossing facility is only accessible by the Lo Wu Station of the East Rail Line. For those who are not residents within the Frontier Closed Area, and are not crossing the border, a Closed Area Permit is required. Applications for a Closed Area Permits outside the Closed Area can be at the Sheung Shui Police station in Fanling. [ [http://www.info.gov.hk/police/hkp-home/english/forms/border/ClosedAreaPermitAppResident.htm Closed Area application form] ]

MTR East Rail Line Lo Wu Station

Lo Wu Station is the northern terminus of the East Rail Line of Hong Kong, sitting in the southern bank of the Shenzhen River, the Frontier Closed Area on Hong Kong's northern frontier. The station serves as a primary checkpoint for rail passengers between Hong Kong and mainland China.

Land boundary control point

Lo Wu Immigration Control Point (羅湖入境管制站) is a cross border point for passengers only, but not for vehicles. It operates daily from 6:30am to midnight. During peak hours, holidays and weekends, the waiting time for entries and exits through Lo Wu is shorter than the other 3 control points because it has the largest visitors' handling capacity. Of all passenger departures (including non-residents) from Hong Kong for mainland China, 90% go through the land border control points of Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok, with Lo Wu accounting for 85% of total departures.

Lo Wu is the most popular border crossing for people traveling to mainland China because most people take the East Rail Line, which is more convenient compared to other means of transport. By passing through Lo Wu, one can reach the busiest commercial zone of Shenzhen in the shortest period of time.

Starting from 5 July 2002, a returning Hong Kong resident aged 18 or above who has spent at least 24 hours outside Hong Kong may bring in 60 cigarettes duty-free for his own use. Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, an incoming passenger must declare dutiable cigarettes to a Customs officer and pay the duty on them.

24-hour border crossing through Lo Wu

In mid-December 2002, the Hong Kong government announced that Lok Ma Chau immigration control point shall take the lead to provide round-the-clock passenger service just before Chinese New Year. Vehicles and container trucks have already been moving both ways throughout the night at this control point.

However, 24-hour border-crossing at Lo Wu control point is still undergoing vigorous debates mainly arguing about the limited number of passengers at night. In addition, higher costs and noise pollution are likely to be created. Kowloon-Canton Railway chairman Michael Tien Puk Sun has once said that it is absolutely impossible to run railway services round-the-clock because of the difficulties in maintenance. This new policy has both advantages and disadvantages. It is clear that trade and transportation and logistic links between mainland China and Hong Kong will flourish. However, it may also cause some social problems since it eases the way to go from Hong Kong to mainland China.

The September 29, 2001 incident

On September 29, 2001, 200 passengers on a train which should have been terminated in Sheung Shui insisted in going to Lo Wu. Since this train affected the operation of other trains at the time, KCR directed the train to proceed to Lo Wu with passengers on board and later alerted the Hong Kong Police Force.

After the police has explained the situation to the passengers, most (about 100 passengers) agreed to leave on specially laid additional southbound trains at 00:30 and 01:25.

Then later at 02:30 the police had to arrange vehicles to send another 51 passengers to Sheung Shui where they have to make their own way home.

As for the remaining who refused to leave Lo Wu, KCR made special arrangements to allow them to stay on the station platform to wait for the resumption of immigration clearance service in the morning.

afety problems at the land boundary control point

Lo Wu is within the Closed Area along the long border. Usually, only travelers wanting to pass through Lo Wu to reach Shenzhen are allowed to enter the area. Citizens wishing to enter the area for other purposes require special approval from the Hong Kong Police Force.

An incident happened in 2000, involving a boy named Yu Man Hon (Chinese name: 庾文翰), who was mentally disabled. He was missing at the Lo Wu boundary control point. The controversy arose when the fifteen-year-old ran across the boundary control point, withoutany identification. In the confusion, and due to the lack of understanding by border officers on both sides, he was mistakenly released into Shenzhen and has not been heard from since. The officials were criticized for a lack of awareness and for failure to recognize Yu's mental disability, even to let free on his own to roam in a strange place. His parents are still searching for him, as the chances of finding him are diminishing, let alone finding him alive.

Developments in Lo Wu

Due to its strategic location as a gateway to Hong Kong and in the CBD of Shenzhen, the Luohu District has flourished with many top-grade office buildings. Nevertheless the Lo Wu area in Hong Kong is remote from the city centre, and far from urban development. As it is lying within the Closed Area, access is restricted, development is impossible and the area has largely remained rural. Relatively cheaper prices of durable goods, gourmet dining and entertainment in the Shenzhen side has hit the retail industry of Hong Kong, particularly in Sheung Shui and Fanling in the North District. There is change afoot. Despite the pleas of environmental groups the closed area is to be opened to 'selective' development, despite its splendid isolation for the past 50 years, threatening an unduplicated abundance of local fauna and flora.

Improvement Projects in Lo Wu

ham Chun River

In May 1995, the governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen jointly completed the environmental impact assessment study of the Shenzhen River Stage 1 works (深圳河第一期改善工程), which comprised the construction of two new, wider and deeper river sections of about 3.2 km long at Lok Ma Chau and Liu Pok (料壆) to replace existing river bends. The governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen were committed to implementing a comprehensive environmental monitoring and audit programme.

Prevention is better than cure - this was also the basic principle on which environmental monitoring and audit programmes were designed to work. The project represented the first opportunity to adopt the concept of environmental performance levels -Trigger, Action and Target (TAT) Levels for a construction project in China. The idea is to provide a warning-to-action system which alerts the project team to a possible pollution incident when the Trigger Level is reached. Action must be taken when the Action Level is reached so as to keep the deterioration to below the Target Level.

A project must gain the community's support and must respond to the community. To do this, a hotline was established so that local residents could lodge complaints when they found any pollution caused by the works. Experience shows that more public scrutiny can enhance the environmental awareness of the site staff. The setting up of a hotline was also essential since the Trigger and Action Levels for noise in the project was based on the number of complaints received.

The environmental monitoring approach adopted for the Stage 1 project actually worked. Since the start of the construction work in May 1995, there were several breaches of the warning levels (Trigger and Action Levels). No violation of the Target Levels were recorded. Most of the potential problems were identified and mitigated through the environmental monitoring system.

The most vivid testimony of the beneficial effects of the Stage 1 works will not escape frequent cross border travelers. Water underneath the Lo Wu Bridge used to be characteristically black, smelly and muddy. Today the situation has improved significantly and people crossing the bridge can now use their hands to attend to duty free goods instead of covering their noses. Furthermore, the widened river channel with landscaped banks greatly enhances the scenery in the border area.

Hong Kong's Advisory Council on the Environment was equally concerned that the commitments made to them during the environmental assessment stage were delivered. Regular progress reports were made to the Council to keep members informed of the progress of the works and the environmental performance. On 20 September 1996, members of the Council visited Shenzhen to be briefed on the status of the works and to exchange views on the project.

The Shenzhen River Regulation Project (深圳河改善工程) may well be the first Chinese project to employ the TAT system in environmental monitoring and audit. Judging from its success and reception, it will certainly not be the last. While the Shenzhen River continues to flow between the two cities of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the flow of expertise in environmental protection will also continue, rendering benefits for both sides.

Lo Wu Bridge

The Lo Wu Bridge (羅湖橋) is a footbridge across Sham Chun River linking Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Due to the course of widening the river section at Lo Wu, it is necessary to reconstruct the Lo Wu railway bridge as its span is not long enough for the widened river section. The old Lo Wu railway bridge has been relocated downstream in September 2003 in order to facilitate the construction of a new bridge for the widened Shenzhen River Lo Wu section. Owing to its historical value, the old rail bridge will be preserved as a monument on the bank of the Shenzhen River adjacent to the Lo Wu Station. The whole bridge was relocated without any change of the existing features, and the shifting of the bridge across the existing railway line was the most difficult part of the operation. The government said damage to the existing bridge structure will be minimal.

Correctional institution

Established in 1997, this is a minimum security institution only for male adult prisoners only, with a capacity of 182. It is situated at 163 Ho Sheung Heung Road.

People can go there by green mini-bus No. 51K from MTR Sheung Shui Station. The visiting hours is as follows:
*All Days (Except Wednesdays) - 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
*Wednesdays (Except Public Holidays) - 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
*Wednesdays (Public Holidays) - 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Visitors should register 1/2 hour before the end of visiting time.Visitors must produce proof of identity.

In response to the growing importance of the reformation of offenders, the Correctional Services Department (CSD) has set up a new division to focus on rehabilitation services for inmates since January 1998.

The new Rehabilitation Division is headed by Assistant Commissioner (Rehabilitation) and comprises about 380 staff in five units. They include:
#Pre-Sentence Assessment Panel / Young Offender Assessment Panel & Prisoners' Welfare Services Unit;
#Aftercare Unit;
#Education Unit;
#Vocational Training Unit; and
#Psychological Services Section.

With the establishment of the Rehabilitation Division, they strive to formulate strategies for the long-term development of rehabilitation services for inmates, to strengthen the co-ordination / connection with the relevant statutory prison sentence review boards, and other concerned bodies on rehabilitation matters of inmates, and to identify the gaps and overlaps in existing rehabilitation services for inmates.

Lo Wu Saddle Club

The Lo Wu Saddle Club, a horse riding establishment that is open to members as well as the general public, is situated at Ho Sheung Heung (河上鄉).

The Club was formerly a camp for the British Army. There have been equines of one sort or another at Lo Wu Camp for over 30 years. The Camp was built to house over 10 British Army Mules, which were used as pack animals for forays into the hills and along the border, as well as for drills and formal parades. Originally known as the RASC the name was changed to the 81st Pack Troop of the Royal Corps of Transport.

Later, horses joined the mules and the Hong Kong Services Saddle Club (HKSSC) came into being, under the command of the Royal Army Vet Corps. The HKSSC was the first and for some time the only place in Hong Kong where riding instruction was given. All other riding establishments were strictly for leisure only. The Army was also the first to hold competitions on the fields here and at the Shek Kong Airfield.

In 1994 with the beginning of withdrawal of British troops from Hong Kong, HKSSC was on the verge of closure. In June of that year a group of keen horse lovers, determined to maintain a base for their riding activities, negotiated a lease on the Lo Wu Camp and took over the administration of what is now know as "Lo Wu Saddle Club".

Themes and objectives of the Club are, among others, promotion of equestrian sport and the care of horses. These are achieved through avenues such as giving of riding instruction to all levels of riders, holding of horse shows and clinics, involvement in the Hong Kong Equestrian Federation and the Pony Club, provision of community services and establishing ties with other cities and countries (e.g. Beijing, France, Ireland and New Zealand) and with international trainers.

Today, having seen the very beginning of equestrian in Hong Kong, the Club continues to encourage appreciation of the sport.

Education

There is a primary school called the Lo Wu Public School (羅湖公立學校). It was established by the local habitants of the village in Lo Wu Village. The school's motto, which consists of four words, emphasizes diligence (勤), modesty (樸), respect (敬) and faith (誠) [http://www2.hkedcity.net/sch_files/a/lwu/lwu-admin/public_html/index.htm]

Trivia

There is a collection of seven short stories entitled "The Train to Lo Wu", written by Jess Rowe and published in 2005.

Footnote

External links

* [http://www.centamap.com/scripts/centamapgif.asp?lg=B5&tp=2&sx=&sy=&sl=&ss=0&mx=829740&my=843309&vm=&ly=&lb=&ms=2&ca=0&x=829740&y=843309&z=6 Map of Lo Wu] )
* [http://www.hk-place.com/view.php?id=131 Details of Lo Wu from HK-place.com] (in Chinese)