Overlapping holidays see travel surge between Shenzhen, Hong Kong

The overlapping Qingming Festival and public holiday in China's Hong Kong from April 3 to 7 brought a surge in cross-border traveling between the special administrative region and neighboring Shenzhen City in the southern Guangdong Province on the mainland.

Data released by Shenzhen's rail authorities showed that from April 3 to 7, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link saw 642,000 cross-border passenger trips, up 22.5 percent year on year. And on April 3, 86,000 mainland-bound passenger trips were made from Hong Kong via the rail link, a new single-day record.

During the five-day holiday period, Shenzhen government rolled out a wide range of cultural programs for tourists, including a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area flower show and special performances such as stand-up comedies and classical music concerts.

Hong Kong tourists enjoyed seamlessly connected experiences -- they can watch the performances right after border inspections, then begin shopping in Shenzhen's commercial areas soon after the shows, thanks to the "one-hour living circle" of the Greater Bay Area facilitated by convenient transportation, customs clearances and cross-border payments.

The U.S. dollar was almost flat in late trading on Friday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, edged up to 100.765 at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.1436 dollars from 1.1438 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound lost to 1.3454 dollars from 1.3470 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 162.45 Japanese yen, higher than 162.39 Japanese yen in the previous session. The U.S. dollar declined to 0.8075 Swiss francs from 0.8089 Swiss francs, and it decreased to 1.4011 Canadian dollars from 1.4048 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar was down to 9.6497 Swedish kronor from 9.6499 Swedish kronor.