This aerial photo taken on Dec. 15, 2023 shows the entrance of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

GUANGZHOU, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Zhuhai port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) saw more than 20,000 inbound and outbound vehicles on Saturday, a daily record since the bridge's opening in 2018.

The 55-km HZMB links China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macao SAR, and the city of Zhuhai in Guangdong Province. It is the world's longest bridge-and-tunnel sea crossing.

This file photo taken on April 6, 2024 shows cars on Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China. (Photo by Wang Xiangguo/Xinhua)

According to the border inspection station of the HZMB, 453,000 passengers and 93,000 vehicles crossed the bridge's Zhuhai port from Tuesday to Saturday, the first five days of the week-long National Day holiday, up 34.33 percent and 56.38 percent respectively year-on-year.

Among the traffic, vehicles carrying plates from Hong Kong and Macao surpassed 56,000 in number, marking a yearly increase of 73 percent.

Border inspection officials said driving to the Chinese mainland for sightseeing and consumption is surging in popularity among Hong Kong and Macao families, especially during holidays.

According to official data, more than 20 million inbound and outbound passengers have traveled through the Zhuhai port of the bridge so far in 2024, exceeding the total volume of the whole of last year.