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A new high-speed rail link between Hong Kong and mainland China has been launched following criticism that the multi-billion dollar project leaves part of the city's territory to an increasingly assertive Beijing.
Chinese security was set up for the first time in Hong Kong, Kowloon, as part of a new "special port area" subject to the law of the continent.
Hundreds of people gathered at the terminus early in the morning, the first train leaving for the city of Shenzhen, in southern China, at 7am.
"I do not worry about the [mainland security] problem. They are only there to work. The joint checkpoints are simply aimed at making things more convenient and speeding up border crossings, "said Mr. Chan, a 39-year-old passenger, claiming that he was traveling with his son on the first train.
Passengers cross immigration and customs checkpoints in the part of the mainland-controlled station, which includes wharves and trains, even though West Kowloon is miles away from the northern border. .
Under Hong Kong's mini-constitution – the basic law – Chinese national laws do not apply to the city except in limited areas, including defense.
Hong Kong also enjoys unseen rights on the continent, including freedom of expression, protected by an agreement reached before the city was returned to China by Britain in 1997.
The authorities argue that joint checkpoints will facilitate passenger movements as they do not need further clearance after crossing the continent.
New high-speed trains to southern China are expected to be much faster than existing cross-border rail links, and long-haul services will reduce travel times from 24 hours to 9 hours.
"It is very convenient in terms of time," said a passenger who introduced himself as Mr. Kwok and who was taking a train to visit his ancestral home in Chaozhou City, in the south of China.
But he added that the tickets were expensive and the purchase system ineffective, having queued four hours before Sunday to buy them.
A second-class ticket to Shenzhen costs US $ 11 (HK $ 86), while traveling to Beijing for $ 160.
