Hong Kong (CNN) -- The screech of clear, heavy-duty duct tape scratches on the ear even before the mass of mainland Chinese visitors comes into view. This is the daily soundtrack from thousands of people packing up brown cardboard boxes outside Sheung Shui train station, the last rail stop in Hong Kong before mainland China. Every day these mainlanders make a Hong Kong entrance, picking up goods on behalf of China-based agents. Every evening, they make an exodus back across the border, taking with them sundry items that include Hong Kong-made baby formula and Huggies diapers to beauty masks and bottled Starbucks frappucinos.
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Every day thousands of mainland Chinese go to Hong Kong to buy goods
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They're paid by agents to meet demand for non-Chinese, cheaper products
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Residents near the border complain that they're a nuisance
Many @placeholder citizens are upfront with their emotions about their mainland cousins.