SFO to ShenZhen 深圳

The trip to ShenZhen can be non-intuitive and a bit unnatural even for seasoned travelers. The spirit is to treat the ferry as an international connection that you will purchase the ticket after you have arrived Hong Kong airport. You don’t cross Hong Kong custom at all and need to have faith on the efficiency of Hong Kong workers that will magically handle your luggage with very short notices.

1. Whichever airline, you first manage to arrive at Hong Kong International Airport. The arrival time should be before 8pm. I took the UA flight from SFO, Cathay Pacific seems popular.
2. As you get off the airplane, search for the sign “Ferries to Mainland/Macau,” do not claim your luggage, do not enter Hong Kong.
   
3. The sign should guide you to the E1 transfer area eventually. Proceed to the ferry ticket counter, with your passport and luggage claim ticket, and buy the ferry ticket to ShenZhen’s SheKou (蛇口) pier. Try to give yourself about an hour before the ferry departure time. The ferry runs about once per hour and the last one is at 9pm. The clerk will take your luggage claim tickets, scan them, and give you back the new claim tickets, with the ferry ticket. The fare is HKD220 per person.
   
4. With the ferry ticket and your passport in hand, go to the E1 transfer security check and “depart” Hong Kong. After passing the security and climbed the escalator, you should see an elevator on your right. Take the elevator to the L4 level.
   
5. At L4 level, find gate 511. About 25 minutes before the ferry departure time, they will board you onto a shuttle bus. It takes about 5 minutes to the pier.
6. The ride is about 30 minutes and you arrive the SheKou pier, on the ShenZhen side. Get off the ferry and wait for them to unload all the luggage. There is no carousel, just plain old concrete on the pier. Show your claim tickets and proceed to the China custom. Remember to fill out the entry form.
7. You exit the ferry terminal just like an airport. Your ride should be there. Otherwise, there are plenty of taxies. Welcome to ShenZhen, China.

The return pretty much run the tape in reverse, except for several points to pay a bit attention to. At the Ferry Terminal, some airlines take your luggage directly. You will see them at the end of the journey. For others, like United, the ferry handles only their segment. You will need to claim you luggage at the other end and re-check in at the counter. Either way, you present the ticket and passport to the China border control, go upstair to pass security and get your passport stamped, lastly, arrive at the pier to borad the 30-minute ride.

Arriving Hong Kong, those lucky ones go direclty to the security gates. The rest of us waited for our luggage (you can see the crane taking the luggage pods off the boat one by one). Drag you luggage pretty much go directly to the other side of the room to the airline counters. Check in, get your boarding pass, proceed to security.

When exit the security, stop by to receive your Hong Kong Airport tax refund. Since we never entered Hong Kong, the services were refunded to us. HK$120 in the pocket. I had the implus to donate them to a local cause, but none were around.

Instead of bus, I took the train of two stops. My destination was the second one: terminals 1 to 80. By the time I arrived the gate, nearly 3 hours have passed since I bought the ferry ticket. This means I would book the ferry that is at least 3.5 hours before the flight’s departure time.