While many Chinese students enrolled at universities overseas are finally relieved to be able to bid farewell to online courses and return to campus for a new semester, they find the journey back is not easy. After Chinese media exposed that the 280-yuan (US$43) ferry fare between Shekou Port, Shenzhen and the Hong Kong International Airport was hiked more than fourfold to over 1,000 yuan on some online second-hand platforms, the Xunlong Shipping Service Company and Shenzhen Oceanus Group have added three more ferries from Shekou to the Hong Kong airport on a daily basis in August, with two reserved exclusively for the use of overseas students. The additional ferries, with occupancy rates restricted to within 90 percent, will charge the same fare as previous rates. In addition to air tickets and ship fares, overseas students are also worried about vaccine and quarantine policies of various nations. For example, those who need to enter the United States are required to present a negative COVID nucleic acid test result produced by qualified examiners within 72 hours of departure. New arrivals are also suggested to take another test in three to five days, and quarantine at home for a week. Students heading to Canada are required to have received two vaccine shots certified by the Canadian Government or quarantine at home for two weeks, in addition to a negative COVID test result. With Chinese vaccines uncertified in Canada, almost all students need to quarantine for two weeks. Still, students are recommended to get vaccines to better protect themselves before leaving China. By the end of July, there were nearly 5.4 million confirmed COVID cases in the U.S., some 1 million cases in Britain and over 6,000 cases in Canada. And the Delta variant of the virus has brought new concerns with its faster spread and greater possibility of infection. Fang Le, whose school will resume teaching on campus, has booked an air ticket from Hong Kong to Chicago for mid-August. “I’ve taken two shots of a Chinese vaccine and prepared 200 face masks to bring with me,” he said. Another student enrolled at University of Glasgow in Britain has decided to postpone her overseas study until December. “My family is worried, so I will take a semester of online courses starting September.” Qi Shaoxuan, a student of Pepperdine University in the U.S., transferred to the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) last year. She has not made up her mind yet whether to return to the U.S. or continue her study at CUHK. (Li Dan) | 