Cheap and illegal: mainland Chinese post social media adverts for services in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s crackdown on visitors abusing visas to illegally offer tour guide, photography and other services has failed to deter adverts for such unlicensed work on mainland Chinese social media ahead of the National Day “golden week” break, the South China Morning Post has found.

A search of RedNote by the SCMP turned up accounts listing themselves as Shenzhen-based photographers offering their services in Hong Kong.

Many of them also asked clients to reimburse their travel expenses between the two cities.

One of them offered photography services at Hong Kong Disneyland at 220 yuan (US$33) per hour, with a minimum booking of two hours in addition to travel costs of about 120 yuan.

Asked by an SCMP reporter posing as a potential client whether she held a visa allowing her to work in Hong Kong, the RedNote user said she did not.

“If you are afraid [of legal consequences], you should find a Hong Kong photographer,” she said.

Mainland residents will enjoy a seven-day holiday from October 1 to 7 to celebrate National Day, and Hong Kong authorities expect to welcome 1.29 million visitors from across the border during the period.

Other RedNote posts selling photography services at Disneyland during the holiday charged similar amounts, with most of them claiming that they held local residency to work legally.

However, independent photography and tour guide services are banned at Disneyland, regardless of the providers’ immigration status, according to park rules.

On Sunday and Monday, the Immigration Department arrested four female mainland visitors on suspicion of working illegally in the city.

The suspects had allegedly advertised make-up, photography and tour guide services in Hong Kong on social media platforms and were subsequently apprehended by immigration officers when allegedly providing the services in the city.

Two local women were also arrested in the same operation on suspicion of helping visitors breach their conditions of stay.

In September last year, the department arrested eight mainland visitors – four photographers and four make-up artists – for working illegally in Hong Kong.

On Tuesday, a person claiming to be a Shenzhen-based photographer on RedNote offered a full-day photography package in Hong Kong to the SCMP reporter for 1,500 yuan, which included 10 “meticulously Photoshopped” pictures.

“It is fine. I go there [for photo-taking] every month,” the user said, addressing concerns about possible arrest for hiring illegal workers.

Another RedNote post charged 89 yuan per hour for taking photos at the West Kowloon Cultural District promenade and requested reimbursement for the 15-yuan single-entry travel authorisation.

Make-up artist Erika Lau, 32, said local small businesses such as hers had been affected after customers increasingly turned to mainland service providers in recent years.

“Cheap prices are a huge draw for [the customers]. I think people care less about the quality these days,” she said.

The artist pointed out that in the context of wedding make-up services, service providers from across the border could charge as little as HK$4,000 (US$510) for a one-day job, about a third of the local price.

On RedNote, make-up artists promoted various packages for special occasions, such as visiting Disneyland or concerts. Some charged just HK$250 to HK$380 per session.

Lau said Hong Kong artists had to catch up with mainland trends and understand what was popular across the border to keep their businesses competitive.

Her fellow artists had closed down their studios one after the other, she said, adding she was also receiving fewer jobs now.

Under Hong Kong laws, illegal employment carried a maximum penalty of a HK$50,000 fine and two years in jail, while anyone caught hiring illegal workers risks a fine of HK$350,000 and three years’ imprisonment.