November 9, 2025, marks the 36th anniversary of the fall of Germany’s Berlin Wall. It was on the historic day of November 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall was toppled. East and West Germany were originally one nation, with residents on both sides belonging to the same ethnicity, speaking the same language, and sharing the same culture and customs. West Germany’s territory was two and a half times larger than East Germany’s, and the West German side consistently welcomed every compatriot from the East with open arms.
Consequently, from the very first day the East German Communist government was established, large numbers of East Germans fled to West Germany. Even after the Berlin Wall was built, many East Germans continued to risk their lives to cross it. By 1989, the East German government was forced to relax border controls, and millions of people crossed into the West to seek refuge. At this point, the Communist Party’s rule in East Germany was already teetering on the brink and soon collapsed.
Escape to Hong Kong
China has also experienced an exodus of refugees. This was because three Chinese communities existed adjacent to the mainland — Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong. Taiwan was separated by the formidable strait, leaving most people to gaze longingly across the sea. Thus, only Macau and Hong Kong offered escape routes, with Hong Kong being the primary destination. China’s refugee wave was primarily the exodus to Hong Kong, characterized by relentless, heroic, and tragic attempts that were no less significant than the Berlin Wall.
In 1997, two Shenzhen natives composed a song titled The Story of Spring. The lyrics recounted: “In 1979, it was spring. An old man drew a circle on the southern coast of China.” This “old man” referred to Deng Xiaoping. “Drawing a circle on the southern coast” signified the establishment of the Special Economic Zone in Shenzhen, Guangdong.
Today, the creation of the Shenzhen SEZ is often attributed to Deng Xiaoping’s idea. In reality, this was primarily driven by the surge of illegal crossings to Hong Kong. Officials acknowledge that since the founding of the People’s Republic, only Shenzhen has experienced four major waves of mass escapes to Hong Kong.
The four waves
The first wave occurred around 1957, following the Anti-Rightist Campaign and during the early stages of the Great Leap Forward and the People’s Commune movement, with over 5,000 people fleeing in one instance. The second wave occurred during the Great Famine of 1961, when 19,000 people escaped in a single event. The third happened in 1972 and involved 20,000 people. The fourth occurred in 1979, during the early stages of Bao’an County’s transformation into Shenzhen City. Seventy thousand people participated in the border crossing, with 30,000 ultimately escaping — at a time when Bao’an County’s entire labor force numbered only 110,000.
Examining the timing of these four significant exodus waves reveals that the first three occurred during periods of particularly severe political oppression and dire economic conditions. Evidently, those fleeing sought to escape persecution, pursue freedom, evade poverty, and seek prosperity.
The fourth instance stands as an exception. Logically, by 1979, China had experienced relative political relaxation and burgeoning economic activity, with conditions improving across the board. Why then did the number of escapees surge precisely at this juncture? The reason lies in the fact that, precisely because the authorities abandoned the “class struggle as the guiding principle” policy, smuggling into Hong Kong is no longer considered a dreaded political crime. Hence, the number of daring attempts increased dramatically.
The most breathtaking scene unfolded on May 6, 1979. That day, at the border outpost in Shenzhen, Guangdong, nearly 100,000 people from across Guangdong and the urban and rural areas of Bao’an suddenly gathered, forming dozens of fierce torrents rushing toward the border. Border guards were helpless; warning shots fired into the air proved futile. Within moments, several sentry posts were overwhelmed by the surging tide of people illegally crossing the border.
Days earlier, a rumor had spread widely across Guangdong’s cities and villages: on the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, Hong Kong would grant a general amnesty — all individuals residing in Hong Kong could declare permanent residency within three days, and Shenzhen border guards would “open the floodgates” that day, allowing free entry into Hong Kong. Thus, tens of thousands surged toward the border nearly simultaneously.
A frontal breakthrough
Along a 6 km stretch of land and coastal defenses, they executed a human-wave tactic — a frontal breakthrough so overwhelming it was genuinely terrifying. In the chaos, displaced people — hearts heavy, eyes tearful — staggered across the border with children in tow. Despite the desperate pleas of border guards and officials trying to stop them, they refused to turn back. The next day, May 7, 1979, hundreds of bodies floated across a 20 km stretch of sea. The once-bustling borderlands suddenly fell silent.
Two small examples illustrate the point well. Shatoujiao Town in southern Shenzhen has a population of over 5,000. Over three decades, 10,000 people migrated to Hong Kong from there, equivalent to the population of two towns. Shenzhen has a village called Luofang, and across the river in the New Territories lies another village of the same name. The per capita income between the two places differs by a factor of 100.
Initially, there was no Luofang Village in the New Territories; all its residents had fled from Shenzhen’s Luofang Village. In the 1960s and 1970s, the primary task of local public security forces was to monitor the “three thefts”: eavesdropping on enemy radio stations, stealing collective property, and attempting illegal border crossings. From central to local authorities, strict defenses were maintained under high-pressure conditions. Yet the tide of illegal border crossings only grew stronger.
How many?
Over those 30 years, how many people actually fled from Bao’an County — the predecessor of Shenzhen — to Hong Kong? To this day, no precise figure exists. Official records state that nearly 120,000 attempted escapes occurred, with 60,000 successful. A local elder, Liu Baoshu, estimates 300,000 successful escapes and no fewer than 1 million attempts.
Thus, on one side lay freedom and capitalism; on the other, authoritarianism and socialism. The contrast was stark and shocking. We can readily imagine that if the mainland weren’t so vast and Hong Kong so small, the Communist regime in mainland China might well have been swept away by a flood of refugees thirty years ago — or even sooner. Faced with this pressing situation, Xi Zhongxun, then First Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, told Bao’an officials: “If it boosts production, go for it — don’t worry about what ideology it represents.” Thus, the authorities decided to establish a special economic zone in Shenzhen. In essence, this meant introducing capitalism. This was an unspoken understanding among the CCP leadership.
I heard this story: In 1979, Yuan Geng was ordered to Shekou, Shenzhen, Guangdong, to establish China’s first special economic zone — the Shekou Industrial Zone. Yuan Geng was a native of Shenzhen. Thirty years earlier, as an artillery regiment commander in the People’s Liberation Army, he had led troops to “liberate” Shenzhen.
Before taking up his post in Shekou, Yuan Geng’s son asked him: “Thirty years ago, you led troops to occupy Shenzhen and transformed its private ownership into public ownership. Now, 30 years later, you’re going back to establish a special economic zone and return that public ownership to private ownership. What exactly are you doing?” Yuan Geng pondered for a long time without answering, then sighed: “Well… we can’t just let the Chinese people stay poor forever!”
Translated by Audrey Wang and edited by Maria
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