Aedas's New Huanggang Port border crossing opens between Shenzhen and Hong Kong

The original Huanggang Port has linked Shenzhen and Hong Kong since 1989. Its replacement, designed by Aedas, opened earlier this month on the banks of the Shenzhen River, and it is meant to be more than a place to queue. The studio calls it a large-scale integrated hub: border control, transport and 25,000 square metres of public space stacked into one nine-storey building.

Its rounded, tiered form is meant to read as a pebble resting by the water, wrapped in horizontal metal fins that the studio likens to ribbons and to the ties between the two cities. On each side the fins lift to frame big glass walls, and inside, arched columns based on the bougainvillea, Shenzhen's emblem flower, divide the halls under 73 skylights. Two sunken plazas open the building at street level, and a roof terrace sits beneath solar panels.

The planning is vertical: escalators connect two floors of barrier-free immigration halls with links below to four of Shenzhen's rail and metro lines, with passenger and vehicle traffic kept apart. It is built to handle an expected 200,000 passengers a day.

Worth noticing if you cross the border by rail or on foot: a rare piece of infrastructure that treats arrival as an occasion.

Our summary of a story from Dezeen, published 1 November 2026. Read the original