Question

Asked by J from uk | Oct. 15, 2025 09:26

About:Visa on Arrival

UK Citizen visiting Shenzhen for 2 days

Hi,

I will be visiting Hong Kong and plan to visit Shenzhen for 2 days as part of my visit. I plan to arrive at Huanggang Port at around 8am via taxi. I aim to get the 5 day VOA and am a British passport holder. I will be departing Shenzhen via rail. I just have a few questions, just for my peace of mind.

1) Is 8am the best time to visit Huanggang Port, with it being open for 24 hours? I have heard there is an unofficial quota system, though I am unsure from what time this is enforced. I plan to enter Shenzhen on the Friday and depart on the Sunday.

2) Is it required for me to provide documents of hotels I am staying at in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, as well as proof of my return flight?

3) Is the metro line close to Huanggang Port close so I can venture into Shenzhen city centre once I clear immigration.

This will be my first time into China and will be the first time I have applied for the VOA, so just want to ensure I have covered all bases.

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Answers (6)

Answered by Borut | Oct. 16, 2025 00:40

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Part one:

1. It is perfectly fine to reach Huanggang border crossing at 08:00. There is nothing wrong with that. You should be aware that a taxi will take you to Lok Ma Chau border crossing that is a Hong Kong counterpart of Huanggang border crossing that is located on the mainland China side. You will first perform exit formalities at Lok Ma Chau and then board the so called yellow bus that will take you on a short ride (5 - 6 minutes) to Huanggang border crossing across the river. When you exit the bus, you will perform all the formalities to enter Shenzhen, applying for a Shenzhen 5 day visa as well. There is no quota system. It used to be actual in the past, but now it is not in force any more. The price is 130 CNY and all forms of payment are accepted, but the payment by any major global banking card is preferred.

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Answered by Borut | Oct. 16, 2025 00:42

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Part 2:

2. It is not required to provide such an information, but it helps a lot. In other words, if you know where will you stay, it is highly advisable to have some kind of accommodation booking confirmation as a screenshot on your smartphone. Also, you will be asked, when filling out arrival card, about your address in mainland China, so it is so convenient to write down there the name of your hotel. You will not be asked to provide a document for your return trip to Hong Kong, but you can be asked, more out of the curiosity, how will you return back to Hong Kong. You will just say that you plan to return by some of available high speed trains after your stay. By the way, you can really return to Hong Kong by taking any border crossing and any mean of transport, high speed train included. Taking a train is by far the most convenient way to return back to Hong Kong. Just for your information, you can also travel from Shenzhen to Macau by a direct ferry and also by plane to any country, but such a flight has to be a nonstop one, without a single additional landing within mainland China.

3. Yes, Shenzhen metro line number 7 has its station, named Huanggang Checkpoint station (皇岗口岸站), right within the Huanggang border crossing facility. Quite convenient.

Have a nice visit to Shenzhen.

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Answered by J | Oct. 20, 2025 00:43

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Thank you for this information, it's really helpful.

There has been a slight change of plan on my end and I now plan to visit Shenzhen as a day visit rather than an overnight stay. Would my address details in Hong Kong suffice or would the address details in mainland China question be skipped in this case as I do not plan to stay overnight?

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Answered by Borut | Oct. 20, 2025 22:52

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Not a problem at all. You will just skip filling out that detail and when asked, you will just say that you are visiting Shenzhen as a day trip. Many are visiting Shenzhen as a day trip, so immigration officials are used to them. Do not insert your Hong Kong address. Have a nice visit to Shenzhen.

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Answered by J | Oct. 21, 2025 11:03

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Thank you, that's really helpful.

Just out of curiosity, is there a reason why I should not provide my HK address? I'm assuming I will just provide my plane tickets only?

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Answered by Borut | Oct. 22, 2025 00:18

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Well, you can present your Hong Kong address, but it really does not have any meaning since the official that will handle your Shenzhen visa application as well as the immigration official at Huanggang border crossing are related to mainland China and not to Hong Kong. Hong Kong has separate immigration policy, different rules in that regard so even Hong Kong addresses are more or less useless for mainland Chinese officials and their related software and procedures. Also, there is no need to provide your flight tickets because you will not fly to or from mainland China, but to and from Hong Kong. Again, this is not a detail of interest to the mainland China border authorities. Your statement that you will visit Shenzhen as a day trip will be perfectly enough and fine.

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