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Don’t dream it’s over: mainland students rethink Hong Kong over costs, culture

Weeks before mainland Chinese student Carol Chen graduated from Baptist University in Hong Kong in July, the 22-year-old did the math and weighed the cost…

By Samantha Johnson / June 6, 2026

Weeks before mainland Chinese student Carol Chen graduated from Baptist University in Hong Kong in July, the 22-year-old did the math and weighed the cost of living in the city against returning home.

Renting a room in the city would consume around half of the HK$20,000 (US$2,552) starting salary she expected as a junior data analyst.

“If I go back to Shanghai, I will only need to worry about daily expenses,” said Chen, a maths and statistics graduate.

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Language barriers compounded the problem. Neither Cantonese nor English was her mother tongue, Chen said, and this disadvantage became more evident at seminars and job interviews.

“Although the companies did not list Cantonese as a requirement, you’ll still be rejected if you cannot speak it,” Chen said, who feels out of place in local society.

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Chen, one of a growing number of mainland students in Hong Kong, said she was now more inclined to leave after graduation.

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