Young Hongkongers overcome negative perceptions to further their careers in mainland China

Undergraduate Joanna Ho Tsz-ying fears visiting the mainland on her own, or even with friends. The last time she went there, it was on a package tour and with her family in tow. They visited Guangzhou last year.

"The mainland is very different from Hong Kong. It takes away my sense of security," the Baptist University translation student says.

She says the barrage of media reports about unsafe streets, especially in the big cities, makes her wary. "I often read reports that some girls would suddenly disappear while walking on the streets on their own," she says.

And so, even though she knows work opportunities are plentiful up north, 21-year-old Ho has no desire to find a job on the mainland.

Her reluctance is shared by many, a recent poll suggests. A survey commissioned by the Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre found more than six in 10 young Hongkongers were unwilling to work on the mainland. Some 46.3 per cent of the 1,001 polled were "unwilling" and 18.4 per cent "very unwilling" to do so.

Only a third wanted to do so - around 30.9 per cent were "willing" and just 2.3 per cent "very willing" to work up north. The rest had no view.

The poll was conducted by Chinese University's Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies from August to September last year. All of those polled were aged between 18 and 29, in other words soon-to-be or relatively new entrants to the workforce.