China implemented some of the world's toughest Covid restrictions during the pandemic, putting hundreds of millions of people under prolonged lockdowns. In the aftermath, younger citizens -- exhausted by gruelling and unrewarding jobs -- are taking flight to escape abroad.
With a relatively easy process for one-year study visas, a slower pace of living and cheap living costs, Thailand's second-largest city Chiang Mai has become a popular destination.
"During the pandemic, the desire for freedom became stronger," Chen, a 26-year-old former bank worker, told AFP.
In China's financial capital Shanghai -- hit by some of the strictest pandemic lockdowns -- Chen had a stable, well-paid job, but was unhappy with the career path that lay ahead of her.
After the pandemic, Chen knew something had to change.
"Even if I kept doing this job for the rest of my life, it would just be like this," she said.
"But life is so short that I want to try something different."
Chen is emblematic of many of her generation: unlike their parents who benefited from China's then-booming economy, younger Chinese are burdened by a weak economy.
Prospects for promotion are few and competition is ferocious, leading many to burn out.
Chen researched foreign language programmes, choosing Thailand where she and her husband, Gordon Lin, moved in May under a one-year education visa.
And now they are determined to live abroad long-term.
"I feel there are a lot of opportunities outside and I feel hope," she said.
The Covid lockdowns in Shanghai led to rare street protests that quickly escalated into demonstrations across other major cities in China, prompting a crackdown by the nation's communist rulers.
The people interviewed for this story were reluctant to discuss politics, but all insisted their moves abroad were motivated by wanting a different lifestyle.
- A decent, dignified life -
The surging desire to leave China can be seen in patterns on WeChat, the Chinese messaging app.
Searches for "emigration" have spiked, hitting 510 million in one day in October, according to Chinese-language media, while in late January "immigrating Thailand" was searched more than 300,000 times in a single day.
Thailand is seen as easier than Europe or North America, with the kingdom offering several types of long-term visas, including a one-year language course -- costing roughly $700 to $1,800.
"I think there's a sudden increase of desire for leaving China," said social anthropologist Xiang Biao, from Germany's Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology.
Thailand has come to be regarded by many Chinese as a stepping stone country, he said, ideal to experiment with living abroad.
But compared to migration in the 1990s and 2000s, when many kept connections with China for business, Xiang said there was a new trend of people wanting to totally uproot themselves.
He added while this group were educated they were not necessarily part of the elite or wealthy.
"They are cosmopolitan, open-minded and they cherish a basic sense of freedom -- not necessarily political freedom, but they want to live a life that they feel is decent and is dignified," he said.
And unlike previous generations, they are not seeking to make their fortune abroad.
"It is really thinking of the question of what kind of life they want, what kind of adults they want to become," he said.
- 'Just do it first' -
Back at the tennis court in Chiang Mai, Chen's husband Lin cheers her on.
The former e-commerce employee had planned to work hard, save and then retire early. But he felt increasingly suffocated by the identikit mindset surrounding him.
"It's all about going to a good university, finding a good job, being a civil servant," the 32-year-old said.
Chen and Lin have only been in Thailand for a few months, living off savings while they consider their next move.
But for Yin Wenhui it is time to go.
The 31-year-old arrived during the pandemic, stranded after China shut its borders, but after a few months he didn't want to return to face relentless pressure from family and peers to devote himself utterly to work.
"I feel more free here. The pace was too fast in China, I didn't have the freedom to do things I wanted to," he told AFP.
Now instead of obsessing about work he runs a Chiang Mai hostel with friends, goes to the gym daily and has learned to cook. Fulfilling a childhood dream, he was also learning to play the guitar -- something his parents frowned upon.
"Here I have more time to think, think about what kind of life I want," he said.
But now the honeymoon is over for him -- he has grown frustrated by the slow pace of life and is ready for the next stage.
"I want to go to a developed country, as it will be better than China or Chiang Mai on culture, work and also salary," he said.
Hong Kong democracy activist Agnes Chow to stay in Canada
Hong Kong (AFP) Dec 4, 2023 -
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, who was jailed over her role in massive 2019 protests, revealed on Sunday she had moved to Canada and would not return to meet her bail conditions.
Chow was one of the best-known young faces of the 2012, 2014 and 2019 protest movements against Beijing's increasingly authoritarian rule in Hong Kong.
She spent around seven months behind bars for her role in a protest outside the city's police headquarters in 2019, when huge crowds rallied week after week in the most serious challenge to China's rule since Hong Kong's 1997 handover.
On Sunday -- Chow's 27th birthday -- she published two posts breaking the silence she had kept since she was released more than two and half years ago.
"I don't want to be forced to do anything any more, and I don't want to be forced to go to mainland China any more," she said.
She said her decision came after "considering the situation in Hong Kong, my personal safety, my physical and mental health".
She announced that she left for Toronto in mid-September for university studies and she would not return to Hong Kong in December to report to the police as her bail conditions demand.
Chow was one of nine people arrested in 2020 alongside pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai accused of "colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security".
She was released on police bail on conditions including surrendering her passport and reporting regularly to police.
However, in early July, Hong Kong police offered to return her passport on the condition that Chow would travel with them once to the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.
She agreed, and in mid-August spent a day with five police officers, where she was shown an exhibition of China's achievements and the headquarters of tech giant Tencent -- where she was requested to pose for photos.
"I could feel that I had been watched throughout the whole trip," Chow wrote.
A Beijing-imposed national security law has criminalised much dissent and most of the city's democracy leaders have been arrested, jailed or fled overseas.
Chow's fellow activist leader Joshua Wong was jailed in Hong Kong over a "subversion" case while Nathan Law has fled abroad with a HK$1 million (US$128,000) bounty over his head.
In a statement issued on Monday, Hong Kong police condemned Chow for "challenging the rule of law".
"The police urge the person concerned to pull back before it's too late, instead of choosing a road with no return and bearing the identity of 'fugitive' for the rest of her life," the statement said.
Freedom and dignity: Millennial Chinese leave China for Thailand
Chiang Mai, Thailand (AFP) Dec 4, 2023 - Hitting tennis balls across a tree-lined court in Thailand's mountainous north, Connie Chen's weekly private training session is a luxury the Chinese national could barely afford when she lived in Shanghai.
China implemented some of the world's toughest Covid restrictions during the pandemic, putting hundreds of millions of people under prolonged lockdowns. In the aftermath, younger citizens -- exhausted by gruelling and unrewarding jobs -- are taking flight to escape abroad.
With a relatively easy process for one-year study visas, a slower pace of living and cheap living costs, Thailand's second-largest city Chiang Mai has become a popular destination.
"During the pandemic, the desire for freedom became stronger," Chen, a 26-year-old former bank worker, told AFP.
In China's financial capital Shanghai -- hit by some of the strictest pandemic lockdowns -- Chen had a stable, well-paid job, but was unhappy with the career path that lay ahead of her.
After the pandemic, Chen knew something had to change.
"Even if I kept doing this job for the rest of my life, it would just be like this," she said.
"But life is so short that I want to try something different."
Chen is emblematic of many of her generation: unlike their parents who benefited from China's then-booming economy, younger Chinese are burdened by a weak economy.
Prospects for promotion are few and competition is ferocious, leading many to burn out.
Chen researched foreign language programmes, choosing Thailand where she and her husband, Gordon Lin, moved in May under a one-year education visa.
And now they are determined to live abroad long-term.
"I feel there are a lot of opportunities outside and I feel hope," she said.
The Covid lockdowns in Shanghai led to rare street protests that quickly escalated into demonstrations across other major cities in China, prompting a crackdown by the nation's communist rulers.
The people interviewed for this story were reluctant to discuss politics, but all insisted their moves abroad were motivated by wanting a different lifestyle.
- A decent, dignified life -
The surging desire to leave China can be seen in patterns on WeChat, the Chinese messaging app.
Searches for "emigration" have spiked, hitting 510 million in one day in October, according to Chinese-language media, while in late January "immigrating Thailand" was searched more than 300,000 times in a single day.
Thailand is seen as easier than Europe or North America, with the kingdom offering several types of long-term visas, including a one-year language course -- costing roughly $700 to $1,800.
"I think there's a sudden increase of desire for leaving China," said social anthropologist Xiang Biao, from Germany's Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology.
Thailand has come to be regarded by many Chinese as a stepping stone country, he said, ideal to experiment with living abroad.
But compared to migration in the 1990s and 2000s, when many kept connections with China for business, Xiang said there was a new trend of people wanting to totally uproot themselves.
He added while this group were educated they were not necessarily part of the elite or wealthy.
"They are cosmopolitan, open-minded and they cherish a basic sense of freedom -- not necessarily political freedom, but they want to live a life that they feel is decent and is dignified," he said.
And unlike previous generations, they are not seeking to make their fortune abroad.
"It is really thinking of the question of what kind of life they want, what kind of adults they want to become," he said.
- 'Just do it first' -
Back at the tennis court in Chiang Mai, Chen's husband Lin cheers her on.
The former e-commerce employee had planned to work hard, save and then retire early. But he felt increasingly suffocated by the identikit mindset surrounding him.
"It's all about going to a good university, finding a good job, being a civil servant," the 32-year-old said.
Chen and Lin have only been in Thailand for a few months, living off savings while they consider their next move.
But for Yin Wenhui it is time to go.
The 31-year-old arrived during the pandemic, stranded after China shut its borders, but after a few months he didn't want to return to face relentless pressure from family and peers to devote himself utterly to work.
"I feel more free here. The pace was too fast in China, I didn't have the freedom to do things I wanted to," he told AFP.
Now instead of obsessing about work he runs a Chiang Mai hostel with friends, goes to the gym daily and has learned to cook. Fulfilling a childhood dream, he was also learning to play the guitar -- something his parents frowned upon.
"Here I have more time to think, think about what kind of life I want," he said.
But now the honeymoon is over for him -- he has grown frustrated by the slow pace of life and is ready for the next stage.
"I want to go to a developed country, as it will be better than China or Chiang Mai on culture, work and also salary," he said.
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