Mainland Chinese university students in Hong Kong struggle with cultural and language barriers

Homesickness, academic pressures and a lack of friends are a recipe for unhappiness that many local students studying overseas may be familiar with. In Hong Kong, however, the same feeling of alienation is felt by many mainland university students as they struggle with cultural and language barriers despite being from the same country.

Wong Kin-fung, a third-year social science student who runs a support group for mainland students at Lingnan University, is trying to get the message across to local students that they should be more helpful to their peers from across the border.

'We have a role to play because Hong Kong is a host to these students,' he says.

Some of them face discrimination, Wong says, citing the case of one mainland student who, lacking experience in the kitchen, tried to cook eggs in a microwave. The eggs splattered across the dormitory's pantry. Other students scolded him for making a 'big mess'.

'If a Hong Kong student had done that, others in the dormitory would have come forward to [help] clean up the mess,' says Wong.

Language and cultural barriers mean that mainland students tend to socialise among themselves and do not make local friends. Wong's group is running free Cantonese classes, and organises outings and events to improve relations between local and mainland students.