Tourists arriving at the terminus said they were looking forward to sampling a wide range of activities and experiences over the break.

Zhang Jiao and her son were among Wednesday’s early birds, opting to take a spontaneous trip to Hong Kong together for the first time.

The e-commerce freelancer, who is in her thirties, said she and her eight-year-old son earlier travelled to Shenzhen from Hangzhou, before deciding to look up places to stay and things to do in Hong Kong.

“My son has a school holiday from April 28, so together with the five days from the golden week holiday, there’s altogether eight days for us,” she said.

“We were already in Shenzhen and thought why not take a trip to Hong Kong? I’m thinking of visiting The Peak, the Avenue of Stars and the Golden Bauhinia Square.”

Zhang said she was also keen to shop at the city’s duty-free stores, adding she expected to spend about 4,000 yuan (US$552) on accommodation, food and transport for both of them.

Cao Ziwei, a legal professional in her twenties from Zhejiang province, said she and her boyfriend were travelling to Hong Kong after researching some local hotspots.

“We want to go to the University of Hong Kong, the Palace Museum and The Peak,” she said.

The couple had also downloaded the Octopus app to their phones as they were concerned some places might not accept Alipay.

They planned to go sightseeing for most of the three-day trip and spend about 10,000 yuan, Cao said.

“It’s our first time in Hong Kong. We’ve seen many shows about the city and want to see for ourselves where they were shot,” she said.

Bad weather, weaker yuan could hit Hong Kong restaurants hard over ‘golden week’

Tako Kei, a 30-year-old Guangzhou resident and regular traveller to Hong Kong, said he and his wife were heading to the city to see a concert by Taiwanese rock band Mayday, estimating they would spend about 3,000 yuan on the short trip.

“We are only staying for tonight and are planning to return to Guangzhou tomorrow,” he said. “We’ve been to Hong Kong many times so we don’t have a must-do or must-see list while we are here. We will play it by ear.”

The Harbour City shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui was bustling with visitors, including Wu Hongqiao from Fujian province. Although the luxury products she wanted were available on the mainland, they were cheaper in Hong Kong because of the exchange rate, she noted.

“I am planning to get myself something as it’s my birthday this month … I’ll probably spend about 30,000 yuan on that,” Wu said.

The 37-year-old mother, employed in waterworks, arrived on Tuesday with her eight-year-old daughter for a four-day trip she estimated would cost 20,000 yuan.

Wu, a regular visitor, said she felt there were fewer tourists during the holiday this year compared with previously, and many people she knew were heading to Macau instead.

Wang Yulin, a 30-year-old engineer from Jiangsu province, was seen carrying several shopping bags.

“We’ve spent about 2,000 yuan on shopping so far today,” Wang said, who was visiting with his wife, adding their three-day trip would cost about 20,000 yuan, including tickets to the Ocean Park.

“Hong Kong is somewhere we like to come every now and then. We don’t travel far usually, it’s mostly in Asia, such as Japan,” he said.

Director of Immigration Benson Kwok Joon-fung said the city’s control points operated smoothly in the morning and the department was well prepared for the influx after it deployed additional manpower to the border.

“Some tourists may choose to visit the city later because of the rains this morning,” he added.

The Hong Kong Observatory said residents should expect cloudy weather with showers and severe squally thunderstorms.

Hong Kong is expected to welcome at least 800,000 mainland visitors between Wednesday and Sunday, part of the 5.9 million arrivals and departures predicted for the holiday.

Immigration officials earlier expected a million trips in and out of the city on Wednesday alone.

Hong Kong to ramp up cross-border bus services, train trips for ‘golden week’

The city plans to host a wide range of activities to welcome tourists, including a 10-minute fireworks display starting at 8pm.

In Victoria Harbour, a fireworks display formed patterns such as smiley faces and the letters “HK” up to 100 metres (328 feet) in the night sky.

The event was timed to coincide with a shopping festival organised by the Yau Tsim Mong District Office and council, which offers limited discounts from 2,200 businesses across malls, hotels and restaurants in Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok.