Liu Minxia

mllmx@163.com

AS the highly anticipated Shenzhong Link gears up for its opening later this week, Jerry Grey, a British-born Australian who has resided in Zhongshan for two decades, is preparing to use the newly inaugurated trans-city bus line to explore the state-of-the-art megastructure that spans the Pearl River Estuary and visit Shenzhen.

Previously, in order to reach Shenzhen, which is located to the east of Zhongshan on the opposite side of the estuary, he either had to transfer at a Guangzhou railway station when traveling by train or take a circuitous route that used the northern Humen Bridge or Nansha Bridge if traveling by bus. Both options had a commute time of at least two-and-a-half hours.

“[After the Shenzhong Link opens to traffic,] that will be drastically reduced. It’s about 20 minutes from where I live to the bridge, and then it is 30 minutes across the bridge, so I’ll be in Shenzhen within an hour, which is incredibly quick,” said Grey, a former British police officer.

Grey anticipates that the reduced travel times will entice more Shenzhen residents to visit or potentially live in Zhongshan. “It would help both sides. It would become more affordable for people in Shenzhen to live in Zhongshan, and on the other hand, it would increase investments into our properties here in Zhongshan,” he said.

From a business perspective, Grey anticipates that the opening of the Zhongshan Link will further boost the speed and efficiency for which Shenzhen is renowned. “There’re quite a lot of designers and developers in Shenzhen and manufacturers here in Zhongshan. So if somebody comes up with a great design in Shenzhen and then gets it manufactured here, the time for delivery of their prototypes will be short. It’s going to speed things up,” he said.

Envisioning a ripple effect on the economy, Grey predicted that the new link will amplify the famed “Shenzhen Speed,” potentially bolstering the economy by facilitating more efficient operations. “They talk about the ‘Shenzhen Speed,’ and everything goes at a very rapid pace in Shenzhen. But this will actually increase that speed, and I hope that would contribute to the economy by making things faster and more efficient.”

Having cycled approximately 30,000 kilometers around China, Grey has encountered myriad bridges during his travels. “There are so many bridges in China that are impressive that it’s very hard to pick one that’s impressed me the most,” he said.

Grey said that he was awed by the massive size of the Humen Bridge when he went across it for the first time not long after its opening in 1997, as well as the eye-catching designs of several bridges in Hunan and Chongqing.

Commending China’s infrastructure and the benefits it provides to the people, Grey said that China has established a robust internal economy based on its intricate transportation network of highways, ports, bridges, and railways.

“Without bridges there would be no development. I always say that I describe the express delivery system as the lifeblood of China’s internal economy,” he said.

Comprised of one underwater tunnel, two bridges, and two artificial islands, the construction of the Shenzhong Link was one of the most challenging cross-sea cluster projects undertaken globally and set several world records. Nonetheless, Grey noted that the project did not receive much international attention.

Grey, who considers himself “an active China supporter” after witnessing the tremendous changes that have taken place in China, said he is “very annoyed” that Western media often overlooks China’s infrastructural milestones, attributing it to “deflecting from their own problems.”

As he gears up for his inaugural ride on the Shenzhong Link, Grey plans to take some photos and enlighten his social media audience with some factual information on the link, including the records it has broken.