Policing The Border
The international border, which runs 22 miles along the land frontier between Hong Kong and the Chinese Peoples' Republic, has an air of rural tranquility which comes as forcible anti-climax to the visitor who expects to find solid evidence of the Bamboo Curtain.
The police keep watch from the Hong Kong side from three main Police Stations and a dozen observation posts. But the wire fence, which marks the frontier, is broken here and there with small gates so that farmers, who have land on both sides, can cultivate it freely.
A closed area, varying in depth from half to one-and-a-half miles, runs along the Hong
Kong side of the frontier and only those with permits are allowed into it.
The border road, closed to all but official traffic, is narrow winding lane running in many places within a few feet of the border..
"Above: a border patrol makes contact with base. Right: the bridge at Lowu where the rail- line crosses the Shum Chun river.
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