The $18.8 Bil, Borderline Useless Bridge Between Hong Kong and Macau

00:08:01
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eUfi4FsaqE

概要

TLDRThe Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, costing $18.8 billion and taking nine years to build, links Hong Kong, Zhuhai, and Macau. Despite its purpose of reducing travel time, it has been criticized for its complexity and low usage rates. Drivers face challenges due to differing traffic laws, immigration processes, and high insurance requirements. Many people prefer ferries for travel between these cities. While the bridge aims to create an economic hub, its practicality and necessity are questioned, making it a controversial project.

収穫

  • 🌉 The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge cost $18.8 billion to build.
  • 🕒 Crossing the bridge takes 70 to 90 minutes by car.
  • 🚦 Drivers face challenges with differing traffic rules and paperwork.
  • 📄 You need multiple insurance policies and driver's licenses to use the bridge.
  • 🚢 Most people prefer ferries over the bridge for travel between Hong Kong and Macau.
  • 📈 In 2019, the bridge averaged less than 4,200 vehicles per day.
  • 🤔 There are debates on the bridge's necessity and effectiveness.
  • 🛑 Breaking down on the bridge can lead to complicated towing issues.
  • 💼 The bridge's goal is to foster economic growth in the Greater Bay Area.
  • 🔍 The bridge includes engineering challenges like underwater tunnels.

タイムライン

  • 00:00:00 - 00:08:01

    The Pearl River meets the South China Sea, and travel options from Hong Kong to surrounding areas include a train or ferry, which takes 70-90 minutes. An alternative method is driving across the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, a project costing $18.8 billion, built with impressive statistics but presenting numerous challenges for users. The bridge connects regions with differing driving rules and immigration procedures, complicating driving experiences and emphasizing the bureaucratic hurdles involved in crossing.

マインドマップ

ビデオQ&A

  • What is the cost of crossing the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge?

    Crossing the bridge costs about $25.

  • How long does it take to cross the bridge by car?

    It takes about 70 to 90 minutes to cross the bridge.

  • What difficulties do drivers face when crossing the bridge?

    Drivers need different licenses and insurance, must clear immigration twice, and deal with a complicated transition between traffic rules.

  • Why was the bridge built if it’s hard to use?

    The bridge aims to create an economic hub in the Greater Bay Area and reduce travel times for specific routes.

  • How often is the bridge used?

    In 2019, the bridge saw an average of less than 4,200 vehicles per day.

  • What alternative transportation is available between Hong Kong and Macau?

    Most people opt for ferries, which have much higher usage rates than the bridge.

  • What major engineering feat is associated with the bridge?

    The bridge is one of the longest in the world, linking multiple regions and featuring underwater tunnels.

  • What requirements do drivers need to cross the bridge in their own vehicle?

    Drivers need multiple driver's licenses, insurance policies, and may need a long-term permit.

  • What can happen if a car breaks down on the bridge?

    If a vehicle breaks down, the driver may have to handle their towing across borders, which can be problematic.

  • Is the bridge seen as beneficial or a waste?

    Opinions vary; some view it as a necessary infrastructure, while others see it as expensive and largely unused.

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  • 00:00:00
    this is where the Pearl River meets the
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    South China Sea to get from here Hong
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    Kong to either of these places maau u
  • 00:00:07
    high you could connect some trains or
  • 00:00:09
    Ferry for about 70 to 90 minutes at a
  • 00:00:11
    cost of about 181 AK about 25 bucks or
  • 00:00:15
    hear me out you could save 15 minutes
  • 00:00:17
    and five bucks by driving across this
  • 00:00:19
    bridge assuming you hold at least two
  • 00:00:21
    driver's licenses two to three different
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    insurance policies and a near impossible
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    to get Crossing permits at least all of
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    which begs the question why would you
  • 00:00:29
    ever d across this bridge and the bigger
  • 00:00:31
    question why would you build this bridge
  • 00:00:34
    and while both of these questions seem
  • 00:00:35
    simple I wouldn't and I wouldn't they're
  • 00:00:38
    pretty haunt topics but before we get
  • 00:00:40
    into why let's meet the Hong Kong zuo
  • 00:00:43
    High maau Bridge the 18.8 billion or 127
  • 00:00:47
    billion wand project that won this
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    week's title of infrastructure project
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    so absurd that I think they just built
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    it so I could make a video look at this
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    thing 12 km/ 72 M of Road linking it to
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    Hong Kong just shy of 30 km/ 182 M of
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    the main bridge and 13.4 km/ I'm tired
  • 00:01:04
    of conversions it's a bit longer than
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    the first part linking it to zai between
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    these two artificial Islands it goes
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    underwater tunnel mode for about 6 and 1
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    12 km so as to not be in the way of the
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    port of guango shipping lanes or
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    anything going on at Hong Kong
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    International Airport which is right
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    over here it's one of the longest
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    bridges in the world estimated to have
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    been built with enough concrete to make
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    22 Chrysler buildings and enough steel
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    to make 60 Eiffel Towers Ooh La La it
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    costs 18 .8 billion over 9 years $1.5
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    billion over budget and 2 years behind
  • 00:01:34
    schedule but fear not for while a pain
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    to build it's also a pain to use see as
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    you likely know Hong Kong and maau are
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    special administrative regions of China
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    operating under the one country 2
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    systems policy that gives them their own
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    governments laws economic policies trade
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    relations and a bunch of other stuff all
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    of which makes a bridge between all
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    three pretty complicated for starters
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    cars in mainland China drive on the
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    right side of the road while car in Hong
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    Kong due to it being a former British
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    colony drive on the left maau rocks at
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    Lefty style too even though they were a
  • 00:02:06
    Portuguese colony and even though
  • 00:02:08
    Portugal switched to the right side in
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    the 1920s but even though both these
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    places drive on the left the whole part
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    of the bridge is in Mainland China's
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    territorial Waters so you have to drive
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    it on the right meaning if you're
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    driving from Hong Kong to maau U High I
  • 00:02:21
    assume to visit the world's largest
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    aquarium you have to go through these
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    special viaducts that seamlessly switch
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    you over from being on the left to being
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    on the right you also have to clear
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    immigration twice once on either side of
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    the bridge which is a pain but not as
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    big of a pain as what's coming for you
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    if your car breaks down if you break
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    down here the Hong Kong police will get
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    you towed somewhere safe but you need to
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    be ready to get yourself towed all the
  • 00:02:44
    way out of there same deal in the tunnel
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    but instead of the Police pulling you
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    out it'll be the tunnel's operating
  • 00:02:49
    company same on the bridge but there the
  • 00:02:51
    bridge Authority tows you to the Eastern
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    artificial Island before you're on your
  • 00:02:54
    own unfortunately if you break down in
  • 00:02:57
    any of these places there's a good
  • 00:02:59
    chance your car will need to be towed
  • 00:03:00
    across the borders between Hong Kong
  • 00:03:02
    maau and mainland China so the
  • 00:03:04
    government recommends you travel with
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    contact info for tow companies willing
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    to deal with all that before you begin
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    to cross the bridge that is assuming you
  • 00:03:11
    get the opportunity to begin to cross
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    the bridge because like I said before
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    doing it in your own car takes a
  • 00:03:17
    mountain of paperwork let's start with
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    the car insurance you need policies in
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    Hong Kong maau and Mainland China even
  • 00:03:25
    if you're only going from Hong Kong to
  • 00:03:26
    Macau since while you're on the bridge
  • 00:03:28
    whoopsie you're in China
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    along with being triple insured you need
  • 00:03:32
    a valid driver's license in both Hong
  • 00:03:34
    Kong and Mainland China if you have all
  • 00:03:37
    that you might qualify for a long-term
  • 00:03:39
    permit to drive your car from Hong Kong
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    toai as you wish there aren't many
  • 00:03:43
    available but hey someone has to get
  • 00:03:44
    them and the rest of the qualifications
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    are super chill and simple you just need
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    to have paid over a 100,000 W like
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    15,000 bucks in taxes to Mainline China
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    or you can work at a quote recognized
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    high-tech Enterprise or you can have
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    donated over 5 million W to some type of
  • 00:03:59
    mainland charity or be a member of
  • 00:04:01
    either the national people's Congress or
  • 00:04:03
    the Chinese people's political
  • 00:04:04
    consultive conference which is let me
  • 00:04:06
    check a total of just under 300 people
  • 00:04:08
    in Hong Kong so yes as long as you have
  • 00:04:11
    three insurance policies two licenses
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    one of that menu of political or
  • 00:04:14
    financial connections to Mainland China
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    and a partridge and a pair of tree you
  • 00:04:18
    just might get a long-term permit
  • 00:04:20
    depending on your residency status of
  • 00:04:21
    course now there are a bunch of
  • 00:04:23
    different types of permits and some low
  • 00:04:24
    daily quota for cars allowed to cross
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    without one but to give you a broad
  • 00:04:27
    sense of how few people get to cross
  • 00:04:29
    when they created a program in 2023 to
  • 00:04:31
    exempt Northbound cars from Hong Kong
  • 00:04:33
    from paying customs duties 17,000 people
  • 00:04:36
    applied for the permit and only 1,600
  • 00:04:39
    got it that's a lower acceptance rate
  • 00:04:41
    than Berkeley of course there are other
  • 00:04:43
    ways across the bridge namely a bunch of
  • 00:04:45
    bus lines but they drop you 30 minutes
  • 00:04:47
    away from the city center in Hong Kong
  • 00:04:49
    and 20 minutes from the iconic lisbo
  • 00:04:51
    Casino in maau why not just take the
  • 00:04:53
    fairy that as it turns out is what most
  • 00:04:56
    people seem to do in 2019 just over 1
  • 00:04:59
    and a half million Vehicles cross the
  • 00:05:00
    bridge for an average of less than 4,200
  • 00:05:03
    a day for comparison in 2022 the bridge
  • 00:05:06
    from Denmark to Sweden saw over 18,000
  • 00:05:09
    vehicles per day for more comparison the
  • 00:05:11
    ferry route between Hong Kong and
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    mallister is over 15,000 people a day a
  • 00:05:15
    number that according to this
  • 00:05:17
    publication indicates that the route is
  • 00:05:19
    quote languishing so either the bridge
  • 00:05:21
    is languishing or there is some serious
  • 00:05:23
    car pooling going on all of which brings
  • 00:05:25
    us back to the question why build this
  • 00:05:27
    just because you have a beef with pink
  • 00:05:28
    dolphins and want to s a bridge in their
  • 00:05:30
    house well for one reason the mainland
  • 00:05:32
    Chinese government has long envisioned
  • 00:05:34
    that this whole place will become one
  • 00:05:36
    big economic Hub called the greater Bay
  • 00:05:39
    Area Eat Your Heart Out San Francisco
  • 00:05:41
    United by infrastructure projects it
  • 00:05:43
    also does reduce travel times by Road
  • 00:05:45
    between some locations for example
  • 00:05:47
    getting from Hong Kong's airport to juai
  • 00:05:49
    went from being a nearly 5-hour drive to
  • 00:05:51
    a 45-minute one and of course big
  • 00:05:53
    projects can create their own demand
  • 00:05:55
    sort of a Field of Dreams effect where
  • 00:05:57
    you build it and the people are like huh
  • 00:05:59
    I work in Hong Kong but now I can keep
  • 00:06:01
    my job and live closer to the aquarium
  • 00:06:03
    not to mention that traffic is always
  • 00:06:04
    really light which is so nice now all
  • 00:06:07
    that's what Hong Kong Mau High Bridge
  • 00:06:09
    stands would say but what about the
  • 00:06:11
    haters well they might note that demand
  • 00:06:13
    for travel between these two cities is
  • 00:06:14
    already served by existing Land Air and
  • 00:06:16
    ceilings or that using a bridge is so
  • 00:06:19
    inconvenient it's not worth it for the
  • 00:06:20
    people it's supposed to serve or that it
  • 00:06:22
    was a huge oversight to not include rail
  • 00:06:24
    on this bridge if they wanted more
  • 00:06:25
    people to use it haters might also note
  • 00:06:27
    that this along with the highspeed rail
  • 00:06:29
    length that between Hong Kong and
  • 00:06:30
    Mainland China around the same time is a
  • 00:06:32
    physical encroachment from the Chinese
  • 00:06:33
    government blurring the border between
  • 00:06:35
    mainland China and the special
  • 00:06:36
    administrative regions after all the
  • 00:06:38
    highspeed Rail Link brought Mainland
  • 00:06:40
    Security Forces to Hong Kong since
  • 00:06:42
    they're stationed at the well station
  • 00:06:44
    all told this thing is an impressive
  • 00:06:46
    feed of engineering sure but above that
  • 00:06:48
    freakishly expensive and nearly useless
  • 00:06:50
    to the people it's exstensively for and
  • 00:06:52
    I don't know I feel like if you're going
  • 00:06:54
    to do something impressive expensive and
  • 00:06:55
    useless you may as well just build those
  • 00:06:57
    60 Eiffel Towers
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タグ
  • Hong Kong
  • Zhuhai
  • Macau
  • Bridge
  • Infrastructure
  • Economic Hub
  • Travel
  • Traffic Rules
  • Car Insurance
  • Transportation