Never had I seen a border immigration checkpoint as busy as the one in Zhuhai, a bustling city in mainland China separated from its wealthy neighbour Macau by a bridge.
During working hours, thousands of people endlessly stream across the border. So large is their number that the immigration office has to work extra fast. In fact, some officers seem to work mechanically: They spread the documents, hurriedly glance at the lines and - bang, bang, their rubber stamps hit the travel papers.
Welcome to Zhuhai, a once-sleepy fishing village that is now a fast-growing city, one which China hopes will some day become an economic powerhouse like Shenzhen or Shanghai.
Coming out of the immigration building, things are quite a contrast to the more affluent and modern Macau. The traffic is chaotic. Shopping malls, hotels and restaurants are filled with a traditional ambience.
As soon as we hit the street, taxi drivers hounded us, offering a ride to our hotel - an experience similar to arriving at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta.
Zhuhai is a special economic zone (SEZ), not to be confused with a special administrative region (SAR) like Hong Kong and Macau. Some Chinese cities have been designated as SEZs to make them vibrant and prosperous experimental grounds for a market economy.
In SEZs, capitalists invest their money in a market economy where free competition reigns. Zhuhai was an unknown village until the 1980s, but the now thriving economy has been transforming the city of 1.7 million people, still "small" by Chinese standards.
It is an expanding city that does not bear the brunt of emerging slum areas, as is the case with metropolises in other, less-developed countries such as Indonesia or the Philippines.
The Chinese government are smart about making urbanisation orderly. Residents of rural areas must obtain permits to migrate to the cities for employment. This explains why the booming Zhuhai is not, curiously enough, swarmed by job seekers from China's rural areas.
In China, the city is affectionately called "beautiful Zhuhai" for its lovely parks and beaches that attract honeymooners.
I was lucky to get a hotel on Lian Hua Lu Road, which is quite central. Many of Zhuhai's main attractions can be found along this road, from bargain-basement shopping to famous restaurants.
What's wonderful about shopping in Zhuhai is that you can bargain, starting from half the opening price.
Huan Jin Chen shopping centre is a must-visit for budget tourists. The centre is best known for fake branded goods that can be had for a fraction of the original price. For example, a flashy Hermes ladies' bag "replica" goes for 175 yuan (S$35), while the genuine article can cost up to HK$8,000 (S$1,523) in Hong Kong.
It's a knockoff - don't expect too much in the way of quality. Your fake Montblanc pen souvenir might click out and then stick; so you unscrew it and the components inside fall out and your dear souvenir can never be repaired.
But not everything on sale at the market is fake. Leather products is especially good and can be bought for extremely reasonable prices if you are good at haggling. You can purchase a pair of genuine leather sandals for 80 yuan (S$16) and smile all the way back to the hotel.
Again, be careful with cheap souvenirs, or you may embarrass yourself back home. Cheap silkscreen T-shirts can paint your body red, green and yellow on their first outing on a drizzly day.
My guide showed me a "good place" just outside the shopping centre to buy CDs and VCDs, both original and pirated.
The friendly shop attendants were very clever. The merchandise in the showcase was all legal and original - so an attendant said. If you're after pirated CDs, just proceed to the back room, where people crowd in for cheap films, music and educational CDs.
Again, quality is just as low the price, as proven by the 12-CD action-packed Bruce Lee series bought for 125 yuan (S$25).
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This article was first published in The Jakarta Post on Sep 22, 2007
