Road trip, anyone?
It’s been 35 years since property tycoon and Hong Kong Tatler 500 lister Gordon Wu first mentioned his plan to build a bridge that would connect Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai. Construction finally started in 2009 on the main bridge in mainland China while in Hong Kong, work began in 2011.
On October 22, 2018, that plan came to fruition as Chinese President Xi Jinping officially opened what is now the “world’s longest sea crossing bridge” with Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, by his side.
Xi used the bridge as a metaphor in his brief speech at the ceremony, describing it as a bridge of “fulfilled dreams”, “connected hearts”, “confidence” and “rejuvenation”.
On Wednesday, the 55 km bridge—which cost a total of US$20 billion to construct—was open to the public. The bridge was built using a total of 400,000 tonnes of steel, which is enough to build 60 Eiffel Towers.