Hong Konger fulfills her life in Shenzhen

HKer fulfills her life in SZ

After her father and grandfather’s generations joined in Shekou’s pilot construction and development of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in the late 1970s, Tracy Yeung from Hong Kong now has new emotional connections with the city.

Tracy Yeung (2nd L, back row), her father and mother, and two brothers in this family photo. Photos courtesy of the interviewee except otherwise stated

She was born and raised in Hong Kong, and Shenzhen was only a city to have family visits during festivals in her childhood. 

Yeung decided to settle in Shenzhen after finishing her study abroad in 2019. “At first, I had a special feeling that is both familiar and unfamiliar with the city. It’s an exploration and adjustment experience to live and work here. Shenzhen is indeed a place suitable for starting a business. Here, I met many entrepreneurial-minded youths, and I was inspired a lot by talking with them,” she said.

Tracy Yeung (R) talks to a participant in the event of making Hakka Chaguo organized by Association of Hong Kong Residents Living in Shenzhen (Shekou).

Yeung is the director of Association of Hong Kong Residents Living in Shenzhen (Shekou). It has organized various activities to gather Hong Kong youths in Shenzhen, including a trip to Nantou Ancient Town to learn about history, a visit to DJ-Innovations (DJI), the city’s leading civilian drone maker, and an activity to learn about intangible cultural heritage by making Hakka Chaguo (steamed bun). “Through these events, we want them to have a sense of belonging to the motherland and feel at home in Shenzhen,” Yeung said. 

Tracy Yeung (2nd L) in a group photo with Hong Kong students visiting Beijing's Juyongguan Pass.

Yeung majored in education in university. Before the pandemic, she worked at the Hong Kong Association of Youth Development, a nonprofit organization. As a tutor, she took middle school students from Hong Kong to conduct exchange events in Beijing, and led university students to do internships in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. She also took students in Shenzhen to participate in the English speech and debating competition of the 21st Shenzhen Reading Month events.

An award certificate of Tracy Yeung and her boyfriend's rural revitalization project at Dali Cup Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao (GBA) Youth Innovation & Entrepreneurial Competition.

Yeung and her boyfriend, also from Hong Kong, participated in a rural revitalization project in Yunfu, Guangdong Province, which focused on a rare spring water with beneficial micro elements. They established strategic partnerships with a local water plant to produce customized bottled water, aiming to broaden the market. The environmentally-friendly project won an excellence award at Dali Cup Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao (GBA) Youth Innovation & Entrepreneurial Competition not long ago.

A film shows at Tracy Yeung's camping resort at Xichong Beach in Dapeng New Area. Lin Songtao

At the beginning of this year, out of her passion for cultural and tourism projects, Yeung made up her mind to start a new business: a camping resort. After visiting various guesthouses with her boyfriend, she had the idea of opening a characteristic tourist attraction at Xichong Beach in Dapeng New Area. 

Tracy Yeung (L) chats with Russian visitor Irina Bogodukhova at her camping resort. Lin Songtao

Shenzhen aims to build an international seaside tourism benchmark city, as stated in its 14th Five-Year Plan for tourism development released this February. With the plan’s favorable policies and subsidies, Yeung’s project was quickly set up. “It took me three weeks to finish the resort’s whole design and about half a year to figure out all the suppliers. We did a lot of comparison of the price of the materials and the fabric,” she said. Under the camping wave hit in China this year, the resort, which opened in May, attracted a lot of customers.

Tracy Yeung (2nd R) poses for a photo with (from L) her father, mother and boyfriend after winning the second place at the “Speak Shenzhen” event last year.

“I appreciate the partners I met in Shenzhen, which made me grow a lot. I hope I can share my experience to other young people wanting to develop careers in Shenzhen, as well as other cities in the GBA.” Yeung participated in the “Speak Shenzhen” event hosted by Shenzhen Municipal Foreign Affairs Office last year, she used English to narrate her stories in the GBA, and won a second prize.

“From my family’s hard work to me, our connection to Shenzhen continues. I’m looking forward to seeing more Hong Kong youths starting their business here in the future,” she said. “We share the same ancestors; we should keep making contribution to the development of Shenzhen.”