What is a water passenger?

Tracing the origin of "water passengers"

Since the reform and opening up, the phenomenon of water passengers has always existed. In the early 1980s, most water tourists collected old clothes in Macau and sold them at high prices in Zhuhai. At that time, the customs had restrictions on the number of clothes they could carry, so water passengers tried to wear as many clothes as possible when crossing the border. There have been examples of sailors wearing 17 clothes at one time. In the late 1980s, water passengers mainly brought wine, cigarettes, small household appliances and color films. In the 1990s, it was pagers, mobile phones, aphrodisiacs, foreign alcohol and tobacco. In recent years, in addition to foreign cigarettes and wine, digital cameras, mobile phones, notebook hard disks and other high-tech products are the main products. In short, the goods carried by water passengers are aimed at people with higher price difference.

In recent years, the number of water passengers shuttling between Macao and Zhuhai is on the rise, and their composition and activities are more complicated. According to the estimation of border inspectors, the number of people who often engage in water passenger activities is around 3,000. According to the nature of "flowing water", water tourists can probably be divided into two categories. One is the traditional water tourists, mostly older aunts, aunts and old men. Most of the tobacco and alcohol brought to Zhuhai are from abroad, while most of the dried seafood, meat and Chinese patent medicines are brought back to Macau, in order to earn the direct price difference between the two places. The other category is water passengers who violate smuggling laws. They are employed by some illegal companies and firms, separating high-value or high-tax commodities that are not allowed to be imported by the state, taking the method of breaking up parts into parts and smuggling them into the country by "bringing water" to escape the supervision of state policies and high tariffs. Since the 1998 country stepped up its crackdown on smuggling activities, this kind of water passengers has developed rapidly.