Shenzhen Drama

I needed to stop off at Lo Wu to pick up a jacket I had tailored. I found a minibus that terminates at the Lo Wu Commerical Center that only cost 20 RMB so I took it.
SZX is on the fringes of the city and Lo Wu is on the southern end at the border with HKG.
I’ve always wondered why I use that term “border” when I talk about HKG. I’ll tell you why it’s a border.
There’s a checkpoint on the expressway about half way to the border. It looks like the checkpoint on the 5 when you drive up from San Diego. Except here they actually stop you.
Our mini-basi was flagged for a spot inspection (I later learned) to see if everyone on the basi has permission to be in Shenzhen.
Since Shenzhen is a Special Economic Zone, you need a special residence permit to live there. At the time though, it looked like the PSB guard was trying to shake down the driver since they had a knockdown dragout argument about the whole point of the stop.
The driver lost. The guard pulled one passenger for a spot check and being disatisfied, ordered all of us out. We all piled off the basi, went into a building and flashed passports and papers. Then we piled back onto the basi and continued to Lo Wu.
Total delay, about 10 minutes or so. But kinda scary for the first 3 minutes or so when the guard and driver were slugging it out.
So just a little bit of drama. It wouldn’t have been drama if I understood Putonghua! =\
So travel tip is here: If you plan to fly back to HKG from PEK, it’s best to purchase a ticket to Shenzhen (SZX) as opposed to HKG. Use this exit and walk straight. Then take this mini-basi to Lo Wu. Go past the Lo Wu Commercial City and the border crossing is right behind it. Clear passport control and take the KCR East Rail back to TST. It takes a little longer but the total price is something like 56RMB/HKD or so.
Just be ready to be boarded by highwaymen…