Carol Wang whizzed into Hong Kong to catch the sights this month — but the 21-year-old from eastern China stayed for just one day and spent barely HK$400 (US$51), preferring to eat and sleep across the border in neighbouring and cheaper Shenzhen.
“We call ourselves special forces travellers,” she said, referring to often young day-trippers who challenge themselves to pack as many points as possible into a brief itinerary, helped by tips shared on China’s Instagram-like Xiaohongshu app.
She was among the more than 910,000 mainland Chinese residents who made the trip to Hong Kong during the five-day Labour day holiday in May, the highest tally since before the Covid-19 pandemic.