Mainland Chinese students flee, but hope to be back in Hong Kong soon

Shenzhen boarding houses run by Chinese Communist Party and affiliate colleges offer temporary refuge amid ongoing violence on campuses

But most evacuees say they want to return as soon as they know what’s going on

Reading Time:3 minutes

Dozens of students who fled the violence on Hong Kong campuses are being temporarily housed in “Grads Homes” in Shenzhen. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:00am, 15 Nov 2019Updated: 9:24am, 15 Nov 2019

When engineering student Xu Ao landed in Hong Kong on Wednesday, the first thing he did was prepare to leave.

“As I arrived at the airport yesterday I panicked and took a taxi back to my flat. I didn’t dare take any other type of transport,” he said. “I went back home, packed up my things, and left first thing this morning.”

Xu, who is studying for a master’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), was at a conference in Beijing when he heard about the clashes between protesters and police earlier on his campus.

On Thursday he joined dozens of other students from mainland China who have fled their studies in Hong Kong in search of temporary refuge in “boarding houses” in Shenzhen, just across the border in the south China province of Guangdong.

The properties, or “Grads Homes”, are linked to a programme launched in 2013 by the local Communist Party Youth League to provide temporary housing for new university graduates while they look for work.

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