There is a button in front of Xueru Li that once she pressesed, she will give up all she had before and start her life anew. Will she press it? 

 

“No,” Li said. “But I have to do so.”

​

Li, 24, a formeralballet dancer and now 24, is a new migrant in to Hong Kong. She followed her parents and little brother came to this city in mid-August this year, just 3 months before.

 

“It cost me over 3 years to get the permission to enter this city,” Li said,showingedher Hong Kong iIdentity cCardin her hand. “And it took me 3 months to feel disappointed about this city as well.”

​

Li was born in a small town in Meizhou, Guangzhou Province. At age 5 she was sent to live with her grandparent, who worked for a ballet troupe, and then she got a chance to learn ballet and began to love it. Her parents, who chose to work in Hong Kong, came back only once or twice a year. 

​

“I feel myself unable to leave everything in my hometown, especially my dearest grandparent and ballet.”

​

After completing an Associate Degree in Guangzhou Engineering Polytechnic in 2017, Li decided toopened operate a small-scaleballet training institution for children in Dongguanand started to teach children ballet dancing. 

​

“That was a terrible experience.” Li said. She renteda thinlybasic classroom at that time because of financial problem and only three3students were enrolled in the first course. “No parent wants their children to dance on a concrete floorwith no air conditioning.”

​

Finally, she compromised with his parents and agreed to go to Hong Kong. Now Li lives in an old apartment in Kowloon City, sharing a 30 square meter space with other her three family members.

​

Junyi Li, her 18-year-old brother, had just finished college entrance exam in Guangzhou this year and his score is well above the one needed to apply to first-tier schools in mainland. However, he now studies the Associate Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science in Hong Kong Baptist University because of missing the application date.

​

“My life is ruined,” Li’s brother said. Tears appeared in his eyes as he revealeddesccribed how wonderful his future would be if he did had not followedhis parents come to Hong Kong. “My 3 years’ hard work in high school become completely meaningless.”

​

Li now work as a waitress at a Taiwan restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui with a relatively low level of payincome. Having no recognized qualification in Hong Kong and lacking the ability to speak Cantonese or English, Li added, is quite difficult for her to find a job and she felt very lucky to get this job opportunity.

 

Still, her future is uncertain. “To be a ballet teacher again in Hong Kong, I need to get a teacher certification first and this process is quite time-consuming for me.”

​

Li paused. “It’s time for me to take the load off my parents,” she added, “not continue to add weight to them.”

​

Around 41,000 mainlandChineseersmoved to Hong Kong in the past 12 monthslast yearending June 30, according to figures released by the Census and Statistics Department, .It was a decrease of 14,700 from the previous 12-month period when 55,700 mainland Chinese moved to the city between mid-2016 and mid-2017.year.

​

The one-way permit scheme, which allows up to 150 mainlanders each day to move to Hong Kong, is meant to help spouses or children born across the border reunite with their families.

 

“Hong Kong is an amazing city,” Li said. “But I don’t belong here."

 

“But everything will get better, I believe,” she said. “Maybe I can continue my ballet dream one day.”