Tsing Ma Bridge

Tsing Ma Bridge

Tsing Ma Bridge

The Tsing Ma Bridge is a bridge that connects Tsing Yi Island with Ma Wan Island of the New Territories in Hong Kong. This bridge is a very important part of Hong Kong’s infrastructure because it’s the only road connecting the Hong Kong International Airport to the rest of Hong Kong.

This bridge is one of the longest span suspension bridges in the world. It has 6 lanes (3 lanes on each side of the road) for cars to drive on. It also has tracks underneath the road for trains to get across and 2 lanes for cars to use during a typhoon. With a length of 2.2 kilometres and a span of 1377 metres, the Tsing Ma Bridge is the largest bridge in the world to have both cars and trains able to drive across it.

The name of the Tsing Ma Bridge was made from the first word of each island that the bridge connects. Tsing Yi Island and Ma Wan Island.

Since the bridge ends at Ma Wan Island, another bridge called the Kap Shui Mun Bridge was built to connect Ma Wan Island to Lantau Island. Together the Tsing Ma Bridge and the Kap Shui Mun Bridge are called the Lantau Link. The whole Lantau Link allows for cars and trains to go from Tsing Yi Island to Lantau Island.

The Kap Shui Mun Bridge also has 6 lanes for cars on top and tracks underneath the road for trains as well as 2 lanes for cars in case of a typhoon. At 820 metres long, the Kap Shui Mun Bridge is the world’s longest cable stayed bridge that carries both cars and trains across.

If you travel from the Hong Kong International Airport to anywhere in Hong Kong that’s not on Lantau Island, you will most likely go across these 2 bridges in order to get into the city.

If you’re interested in seeing these bridges, you can visit the Lantau Link Visitors Centre for some very nice views. The Lantau Link Visitors Centre can be found on the north western end of Tsing Yi Island. A nice viewing point is available here where you can see the Tsing Ma Bridge and the Ting Kau Bridge. It’s a bit of a walk to get up to the viewing point, but it’s well worth the effort in the end.

Once you’ve seen these bridges, you can make your way back to the Lantau Link Visitors Centre. Inside the building you’ll find information on the project to build the bridges, how these bridges compare to other ones all around the world, educational activities, and a souvenir shop.

You can get here by going to the Tsing Yi MTR Station and taking a bus up to the Lantau Link Visitors Centre.

If you go back to the Tsing Yi MTR Station, you can take the MTR across the Lantau Link where the next station is Sunny Bay, the connecting MTR Station for Hong Kong Disneyland. If you continued on for 1 more station, you’ll end up at Tung Chung Station where you can find Ngong Ping 360 and the Citygate Outlets. Just make sure you don’t take the Airport Express MTR line or you’ll end up at the Airport instead of Tung Chung Station.

The Ma Wan Park – Noah’s Ark amusement park is found on Ma Wan Island, but isn’t accessible by MTR. If you want to visit the park, you’ll have to take a bus or ferry.