Hongkongers looking for a better lifestyle flock to Shenzhen

As friction continues between sections of Hong Kong's indigenous population - if there is such a thing - and the mainlanders they see as taking over their patch, there's another, less well-known migratory pattern taking place. It's in the opposite direction in search of what you might call "perfect otherness".

Growing numbers of Hongkongers are putting their eggs in two baskets by securing a holiday or second home on the mainland - one that has all the comforts of home without actually being there, or having to deal with the hassles of the daily grind.

Even former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen had his eye on a cross-border pad with the offer of a luxury apartment on the mainland. His plans fell apart in a public way when the Independent Commission Against Corruption launched an investigation in February last year into his ties to tycoons and possible alleged favours - including a bargain rate for a luxury penthouse in Shenzhen.

But it's not just a growing phenomenon among Hong Kong's wealthy middle and upper class. The city's hard-working class is also getting in on the act.

So says Dr Maggy Lee, an associate professor with Hong Kong University's sociology department, who is the driving force behind a study, funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council, into second homes. The study, , has uncovered interesting attitudes and motivations.

Lee has been collecting stories of Hongkongers - families, the retired or economically active - who are in search of what they regard as a "good life", through living in, or purchasing, a second home on the mainland. "Lifestyle migration" has gathered pace around the world because of broader social and economic changes that are allowing increased mobility, ease of transport, flexibility in working lives, early retirement and relative affluence.