Border crossers praise Hengqin Port

Dear Sirs:
To whom it may concern -- Hengqin Port Immigration Service (March 2008)
We write to record our appreciation for the friendly and efficient service provided by your Immigration Officials when we pass through the Hengqin Port Immigration building. Your officers are friendly and efficient and make the transit through into China from the Cotai strip a very positive experience. Your immigration officials are well mannered and engage in conversation in English.
We go over to Hengqin Island most Sunday mornings for Mountain Biking and other pleasure pursuits, often bringing small groups from Macau to experience the beauty of Hengqin Island (and spend money in the Hengqin Restaurants).
Thank you again for the GREAT SERVICE you are offering and please keep up this effort as it is very much appreciated.

Best regards,
Dr. Robert Kirby, CEO of Upward Bound Unlimited
Ron Stier, Chief Instructor

ROBERT J Kirby, president and CEO of Macao-based Kirby Leadership and CEO of Upward Bound Unlimited, asked this journalist to convey his Accomplishment Letter to Hengqin Port Immigration Service on April 3. So I arranged for Robert to hand it to Hengqin Port officers Chen Zhenzhou, director of the Politics Department; Xie Qian, in charge of the Entry Department; and Ou Wei, who has obtained the Certificate of Training in UN Peace Support Operations (COTIPSO).

A Brit who came to live in China in 1993, Robert moved to Macao in 1998. He first went to Hengqin Island in 2002 and now always goes there to spend the weekend with his family or the teams he and his partner, Ron Stier, organise. “The reason I like to come to Hengqin is I very much enjoy the outdoors. Hengqin is such a beautiful island for hiking. I like the outdoors here and I like the food,” he said.

“Every time I come across, I always get very good service,” Robert said, adding, “I have to say the service here is better than Macao side.”

“A lot of people write to complain, but very few people write to say ‘well done’ and my letter was really just to say ‘well done’ for the great service that we receive when we come across the border,” Robert said.

An avid outdoorsman, Robert has been to Shenyang, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing and many other Chinese cities. “I enjoy going to China and I enjoy traveling in China. If the ladies and gentlemen all have a very nice welcoming smile, that’s very good for us travelers, as when you see that smile, it means everything relaxes,” he said. “I think that helps you as well, because when we’re relaxed, we are friendlier to you and you’re friendlier to us. It’s what we call ‘win-win’,” he added.

Robert also noted that when he produced his passport in the evening a week ago, the lady asked him in English, “Have you taken dinner?” “Ah, having a conversation! Very good!” Robert said, explaining, “It just makes the experience more pleasurable.”

Hengqin Checkpoint has refined services to improve efficiency and convenience. For example, when an officer sees a passenger apparently looking for somebody, he or she will offer to help rather than remain in place as they did previously, Director Chen explained. An evaluation system has also been established for border crossers to rate service. In addition, they provide cell phone charging service at no charge and orientation brochures to those who come to the Chinese mainland for the first time. He also sought advice from Robert for better services.

“What is important to us generally is friendliness and efficiency,” Robert said. “Anything else, from cell phone charging, immigration making conversation or information about Zhuhai, is all a bonus. So just focus on it -- friendliness and efficiency,” he stressed.

With 8,000 average daily border crossings on weekdays and 11,000 to 12,000 at weekends, Hengqin Checkpoint has a designed capacity of 780,000 border crossings per day, Chen noted. It is still far from the goal, he said.

On the other hand, 65 per cent of the 27 million visitors to Macao were from the mainland, and Macao expects 28 or 29 million visitors this year, Robert noted. Now that Hengqin Port is open 9am to 8pm, he asked if it is possible that the checkpoint extend its hours. “When it happens, it means we’ll spend more time here and more money here as well,” he said.

Chen responded that it is exactly what they expect to do. What’s more, some delegates to the national People’s Congress even suggested the checkpoints be open round the clock. However, it takes time for approval by the State Council, he noted.

Sporting a map of Hengqin Island on the back of his T-shirt, Robert explained that he and his running friends intend to promote the island. They hold a run of 13km there every year to celebrate birthdays of participants despite their different months and dates. “Later this year, we’re planning to do other sporting events on Hengqin, taking advantage of the open space and fresh air here. We always finish with a lunch on the island,” he noted. “We’re not only ‘run and go back’, we also try to find ways to put money into the economy. In that way we say ‘thank you’. It has mutual benefits,” he said.

Robert and Ron were also the first two crossing the border when the port reopened on 30 April 2007, and they had their pictures taken in the entry hall, officers confirmed. “We’ll keep bringing people across to help support the economy here in Hengqin,” Robert said.