Hong Kong - Guangdong by Boat
Boats travel between Hong Kong and many Guangdong cities including Guangzhou, Shekou (near Shezhen airport) and Zhuhai. There is an overnight steamer between Hong Kong and Guangzhou, which takes 8 hours; there is also a daytime catamaran service, which takes just over 2 hours. Ferry Journeys to Shantou takes 14 hours; to Xiamen, 20 hours; and to Shanghai, 60 hours. All have restaurants on board.
Hong Kong is linked by hydrofoil with Guangzhou, Huangpu, Guangzhou's commercial port, and the delta cities of Lianhua Shan, Nansha, Shekou, Shunde, Zhongshan and Zhuhai. There are also services between Macau and Shekou. For information on hydrofoil schedules, call 2833 9300 or 2542 3428 in Hong Kong. Most departures are from the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry terminal at the Shun Tak Centre (on the waterfront west of Central District, Hong Kong. Sheung Wan station on the MTR and the A2 Airbus from the airport) and from the China Ferry Terminal, Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.
By day, the most impressive trip is the one between Kowloon and the port of Nansha, sited at the entrance of the Zhu Jiang (Pearl River), aboard a huge modern hydrofoil travelling at 35 knots (journey time is 1 hour 15 minutes). From the Nansha terminal, a free bus shuttle ( 1 hour) takes travelers to the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. There are five daily departures from Hong Kong (8am, 9am, 1pm, 2pm and 3:30pm) and six from Nansha (9:30am, 11am, 12pm, 3pm, 4pm and 5:30pm). Tickets can be purchased from the China Ferry Terminal (tel: 2375 0688) in Hong Kong, the Nansha terminal (tel: 498 8312 or 8468 8963) and the basement of the White Swan Hotel.