Zhuhai — Gardens and the HZMB (1-1.5hr)

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge turned Zhuhai from an overnight trip into an afternoon one: the 55-kilometre crossing, opened in October 2018, cut the road journey between the two cities from around four hours to about half an hour. HZMBus shuttle buses leave the Hong Kong Port, reachable by Cityflyer or Long Win Bus airport routes, taxi or an MTR shuttle, as often as every five minutes, and the crossing itself takes about 40 minutes to the Zhuhai Port on the other side. Crossing from Hong Kong into mainland China always means clearing a separate immigration checkpoint. Hong Kong permanent residents of Chinese nationality travel on a Home Return Permit rather than a passport or visa; permanent residents who are not Chinese nationals use a different mainland-issued travel permit. Foreign visitors have two visa-free routes worth checking before they book: nationals of 50 countries — most of Europe plus Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and several Gulf and Latin American states — can already enter mainland China visa-free for up to 30 days for tourism, business or family visits, under China's nationwide unilateral exemption policy. Nationals of a further 57 countries, including the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, can transit through China visa-free for up to 240 hours if they hold a confirmed onward ticket to a third country or region and enter through one of the policy's designated ports; whether the Zhuhai Port crossing is one of those ports should be confirmed against the current National Immigration Administration port list before relying on it. Anyone outside these categories needs to arrange a standard Chinese visa in advance. Zhuhai markets itself as the "City of Romance," and its most photographed spot is squarely aimed at that reputation: the Fisher Girl statue on the waterfront at Xianglu Bay, at the northern end of Lovers' Road, a long seafront promenade that has become the city's default evening stroll, backed by palm trees and a view across the bay toward Macau. Zhuhai has been one of China's special economic zones since 1980, and its subtropical climate means a wet season from April to October with around four typhoons a year, so spring and autumn are the most comfortable times to walk the waterfront. For a full day rather than an afternoon, Chimelong Ocean Kingdom on Hengqin Island is one of the largest marine theme parks anywhere: eight themed zones built around 48.75 million litres of water, including a Whale Shark Aquarium holding 22.7 million litres in what was, at opening, the world's largest single aquarium tank, plus a 39.6-by-8.3-metre viewing window that still holds a Guinness World Record. It opened in January 2014, won a Thea Award for theme-park design the following year, and by 2024 was drawing over 12.6 million visitors annually, making it one of the six most-visited theme parks on the planet.