Chiang Mai – Hitting tennis balls across a tree-lined court in Thailand’s mountainous north, Connie Chen’s weekly private training session is a luxury the Chinese national could barely afford when she lived in Shanghai.
China implemented some of the world’s toughest Covid restrictions during the pandemic, putting hundreds of millions of people under prolonged lockdowns.
In the aftermath, younger citizens — exhausted by gruelling and unrewarding jobs — are taking flight to escape abroad.
With a relatively easy process for one-year study visas, a slower pace of living and cheap living costs, Thailand’s second-largest city Chiang Mai has become a popular destination.
“During the pandemic, the desire for freedom became stronger,” Chen, a 26-year-old former bank worker, told AFP.
In China’s financial capital Shanghai — hit by some of the strictest pandemic lockdowns…
