Zhang Yue'e was tired but excited when she returned home to Guangzhou's Haizhu district on Tuesday evening.

The 46-year-old white-collar worker had just completed a journey of about five hours from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province.

In addition to the train trip from Shenzhen to Guangzhou, Zhang had to spend a considerable amount of time at the borders in Hong Kong and Shenzhen due to the long lines.