GUANGZHOU, Sept. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- A 100-year-old railway bridge was successfully relocated to Hong Kong Monday morning, ending its service of connecting the city of Shenzhen in southern Guangdong Province to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

¡¡¡¡Luohu Bridge, which has witnessed tremendous changes both in Shenzhen and neighboring Hong Kong, was moved to the Hong Kong end of it for exhibition as a cultural relic, and a new railway bridge will be built on the site.

¡¡¡¡The bridge, 48 meters long, 20 meters wide and 250 tons in weight, was relocated as a whole with the help of jacks, steel cables and blocks.

¡¡¡¡The century-old bridge has played a key role in connecting Shenzhen and Hong Kong since it was built. In the early 1980s, the bridge observed Shenzhen residents returning from Hong Kong with various sized of boxes of cheap electrical appliances, while 20 years later more Hong Kong residents are seen traveling via the bridge to shop and spend weekends in Shenzhen.

¡¡¡¡Currently, more than 200,000 tourists enter or exit Luohu Port each day on average, exit-entry statistics from Shenzhen port show.

¡¡¡¡The Shenzhen municipal government planned to replace the prestigious age-old railway bridge with a brand-new one by the year 2004, and the people traveling between Hong Kong and Shenzhen through Luohu Port can walk through the pedestrian bridge near by the eastern side of the railway bridge. Enditem