SAR’s ethnic minority groups explore mainland under the latest travel policy
Hong Kong’s first batch of non-Chinese students who visited the Chinese mainland with new travel permits wrapped up the three-day visit to mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area on Wednesday.
The new card-style permit, which offers more convenient visa and border clearance arrangements for traveling to the mainland, has presented the students a great opportunity to gain firsthand experience of China’s rapid development and magnificent culture, group participants said.
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With the application process beginning on July 10, the permit allows non-Chinese residents in Hong Kong and Macao to make multiple trips to and from the mainland during its five-year validity period, with each stay not to exceed 90 days. In addition, cardholders can enjoy self-service clearance, significantly improving efficiency.
With most of the students being non-Chinese residents, Yaumati Kaifong Association School encouraged its students to apply for the permit and organized this mainland trip with the Yau Tsim Mong District Office.
Dressed in their traditional ethnic attire, 26 students from seven countries participated in the much-anticipated journey under the guidance of teachers and volunteers. With an average age of 11 years old, most of them had never left Hong Kong before.
They explored the mainland’s latest scientific achievements in automobile technology at the GAC Group museum in Guangzhou’s Nansha district, and immersed themselves in the charm of Chinese culture by engaging in the traditional paper-cutting craft of Foshan, a nationally recognized intangible cultural heritage.
In Guangzhou, they also visited a sister school of their own and toured the Chimelong Safari Park, a tourist destination popular with children.
Cheung Ka-hou, the school’s general director and leader of the exchange group, said that the students greatly valued this opportunity, adding that the trip to the mainland could teach them an invaluable lesson beyond what they could learn from books.
He said that previously, non-Chinese residents needed to apply for entry permits for each visit to the mainland, which was costlier for multiple visits and required them to repeatedly submit application documents. The new card permit that allows for multiple visits in the five-year validity period can save a lot of hassle, he said.
He added that in the past, it usually took exchange group members half an hour to complete border clearance. With the new permit allowing them to use self-clearance service, this time the process only took a few minutes to complete.
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Dangal Zane, a Nepalese student, expressed joy and excitement about the visit. She mentioned that during the tour, she got the opportunity to experience Chinese calligraphy, which she found to be one of the most captivating aspects of the trip.
Limbu Maeson, also from a Nepalese family, also hailed the efficient border clearance process with the card permit.
Earlier, the school said that it will encourage more students and parents to apply for the permits after the start of the new school year in September. They also expressed their hope to expand the number of participants in such exchange groups to 100 next year.
According to the nation’s Exit and Entry Administration, during the past month since the introduction of the new travel permit, over 20,000 non-Chinese permanent residents in Hong Kong and Macao have made appointments to apply for the document.
