ZHUHAI, China is an umbrella name for the Special Economic Zone encompassing three separate townships immediately north of the Portuguese colony of Macau (Aomen): Gongbei on the border itself, and Jida and Xiangzhou , the port and residential districts, 5-10km farther up along the coast. Though full of new offices, immensely wide roads and tasty economic incentives, Zhuhai really hasn't taken off yet, though the whole zone is completely surrounded by an electrified fence to stop smuggling, and you may need your passport to get through the checkpoints on the way in. The coastline hereabouts is pretty enough on a warm day, but there are no true beaches and, even more so than Shenzhen, the border is the only real reason to be here.

Jiuzhou ferry port and ticket office is at JIDA , with twice-hourly services to Shenzhen 7.50am-6pm (¥70; 1hr), and frequent departures to Hong Kong 8am-9.30pm (¥90; 1hr 10min). Bus #4 runs between here and Gongbei (6.30am-9.30pm) or you can hail a taxi. If you want to stay nearby, the sole option is 500m up the road at the five-star Zhuhai Holiday Village (tel 0756/3332038, fax 3332036; ¥850), whose apartments and villas are spread around large grounds overlooking the sea. GONGBEI itself has the atmosphere of a new seaside resort town, and is small enough to walk around in an hour. All minibuses and buses wind up at one of the three depots within spitting distance of the border crossing. The most interesting area to investigate is immediately north of the crossing along Lianhua Lu, where there's a big produce market under the Friendship Shop and a night market in the stretch north of Qiaoguang Lu selling souvenirs. For accommodation , try the Lianhua Dasha on Lianhua Lu (tel 0756/8885637; ¥200-300, but very keen to bargain), a cool, clean and fairly quiet budget hotel in Gongbei's market district; the large and good-value Popoko Dajiudian on Yuehai Lu (tel 0756/8886628, fax 8889992; ¥300-500); the slightly overpriced, brand new Minan Jiudian, near the Lianhua on Lianhua Lu (tel 0756/8131168; ¥300-500); and the upmarket Yuehai Jiudian ( Guangdong Hotel) on Yuehai Dong Lu (tel 0756/8888128, fax 8885063; ¥700 and over), whose exterior glass lift offers ear-popping views out over Macau. Of the numerous places to eat , a canteen opposite the Lianhua Dasha on Lianhua Lu serves excellent Hakka chicken , baked in salt and displayed outside wrapped in paper, while the Huang Tao restaurant, upstairs at the Friendship Shop, serves Zhuhai's best dim sum every morning.

Moving on , the Macau border is open 7am-9pm, while the bus stations have regular departures for destinations through the delta to Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Huizhou.