Status Symbol Game Just Got Real

"Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever" (superchan7)
11/05/2018 at 04:18 • Filed to: Hong Kong, Macau, Macao, China, infrastructure

Two-plate cars are common in Hong Kong and Macau, China’s two former colonies, as business owners and staff frequently cross their respective borders to work in neighbouring Guangdong Province.

With its opening as the world’s longest sea crossing, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (actually a bridge with an undersea tunnel for one section) now allows cars from Macau to easily visit its fellow former colony. The result is some cars now boasting three number plates.

From top to bottom:

Macau (its home)

Guangdong Province (special plate denoting the vehicle’s Macau origin)

Hong Kong (the special prefix “ZM” created for Macau visitors enabled by this bridge)

DISCUSSION (16)

Wagon Guy drives a Boostang > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
11/05/2018 at 04:58

so law enforcement in those areas have no reciprocal agreements? Eve rywhere else in the world you don’t get a plate for the car unless you live there. I wouldn’t want to have to get a different plate to drive into Mexico or Canada from the US.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
11/05/2018 at 05:29

so the poor driver has to pay 3 lots of rego taxes?

Nom De Plume > pip bip - choose Corrour
11/05/2018 at 06:11

So the driver has a much lower chance of getting hassled in all three places.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
11/05/2018 at 06:31

Imagine if they wanted to be able to drive in mainland China proper...rather than three distinct economic zones!

kanadanmajava1 > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
11/05/2018 at 06:48

Silly way to mount three plates. You could get a lot downforce u s i n g another m e t h o d .

Kinja'd!!!

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
11/05/2018 at 06:57

and now the lack of airflow to the radiator makes it overheat:p

Wagon Guy drives a Boostang > kanadanmajava1
11/05/2018 at 08:40

That only works on Datsun wagons.

404 - User No Longer Available > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
11/05/2018 at 08:42

I didn’t realize the prefixes went up to Z already. My sis’s car from a few years back still started with P.

facw > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
11/05/2018 at 09:32

That’s a fairly long bridge, looks like 30+ miles of new roadway (though a section of that is tunneling under an existing island in Hong Kong.)

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
11/05/2018 at 10:54

Weird flex but ok.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > 404 - User No Longer Available
11/05/2018 at 11:13

They’re at V now for normal cars. ZM was a special prefix created for visitors from Macau enabled by this bridge .

404 - User No Longer Available > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
11/05/2018 at 11:35

Ah right... I forgot about that. ZG was used by the PLA as well I think.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > pip bip - choose Corrour
11/05/2018 at 12:24

Poor driver gladly pays it to lord over his friends that have “only” 2 plates.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > 404 - User No Longer Available
11/05/2018 at 12:29

Yep, ZG stands for “Zhu Gang” in Putonghua (Mandarin). They actually made their own plates in an attempt to conform to Hong Kong’s format (in fact, the HK Garrison vehicles are RHD to conform to local roads) , but the plates are probably still non-compliant to BS Au 145a simply for the mainland Chinese font.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Wagon Guy drives a Boostang
11/05/2018 at 12:40

It’s complicated because the bridge mostly rests in Chinese waters (i.e. LHD). But 2 of the 3 places that it actually connects are RHD (two former colonies, Hong Kong and Macau). The third place is Zhuhai, which is the Chinese mainland city bordering Macau and is, of course, LHD.

In the 1980s, Guangdong province began allowing cars from Hong Kong (RHD) into its territory (LHD)—this was back when Hong Kong was still a colony run by the UK , so it’s amazing that this even happened. Due to the vast difference in economic and political situations at the time, there was no incentive for the PRC to accept Hong Kong plates in its mainland. So they issued a special Chinese plate for these visitors. In a way, the plate is, in itself, the proof of registration for operation within mainland Chinese borders.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > facw
11/05/2018 at 12:52

Starting from Hong Kong, travelling west on Hong Kong-built road :
Border crossing island (next to the airport)
Scenic Hill Tunnel (next to the airport)
Causeway to border of Hong Kong maritime boundary
Entry into Guangdong Province waters - the Hong Kong-built section ends here
Entry into undersea tunnel (to protect a busy shipping lane into Hong Kong)
Exit onto a series of causeways and suspension bridges spanning 20 -ish miles (this is the majority of the bridge, the suspension portions offering small shipping pass-throughs )
Arrive at border crossing island where the road splits towards Macau border facility and Zhuhai border facility

A complex piece of infrastructure spanning 3 territories with a lot of land created just for border crossing facilities. Google Maps’ current images shows most of it in near-complete shape.