Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday officially inaugurated the world's longest sea crossing bridge, nine years after construction first began. The 55-kilometre (34-mile) crossing, which includes a snaking road bridge and underwater tunnel, links Hong Kong's Lantau island to Zhuhai and the gambling enclave of Macau, across the waters of the Pearl River Estuary. The mega bridge will open to traffic on Wednesday. The launch ceremony was hastily announced last week by mainland authorities with Hong Kong lawmakers and transport companies complaining they had been left in the dark.