AFTER years in the doldrums, Zhongying Street in Shatoujiao, Yantian District, is regaining its appeal among local residents shopping for Hong Kong goods.
The border street is famous for its one street, two systems, with half of the street belonging to the Chinese mainland and the other half to Hong Kong.
Once a top shopping destination for mainland residents, the street s popularity waned after the 1990s as a result of poor management and a surge of poor-quality, counterfeit goods.
But the street is now seeing a revival.
The number of visitors to the street has risen, with more than 2,000 visitors per day during the past two years, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.
One frequent visitor, identifying herself as Kong, said that with the appreciation of the yuan, Hong Kong stores selling cheap, good-quality daily necessities had become more attractive.
In addition, management of the street s stores had improved, Kong said.
Kong said she visited the street every two months to buy medicine and daily necessities.
Increasing numbers of people are opting for the street for bulk purchases of necessities such as milk, instant noodles, shampoo, cosmetics and soy sauce.
However, robust business had only been seen in stores on the Hong Kong side, which accept both Hong Kong dollars and yuan.
Few customers were seen in the stores on the mainland side, the Daily said.
There are only four tourist channels at Shatoujiao Checkpoint, which is regularly overwhelmed by the large number of daily travelers who must go through the checkpoint before entering the street, according to the report.
Residents have also complained about the poor management of the checkpoint.
During the 1980s and the early 1990s, Hong Kong businesspeople on Zhongying Street sold a variety of goods that were in short supply on the Chinese mainland, attracting a large number of shoppers.
But following rapid economic development on the mainland, the street went into decline.
By April 2004, over 90 percent of the stores on the mainland side of the street had closed.
(Li Hao)
