JIUQUAN, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Growing up in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Li Jiaying wore two hats: one as a police officer serving justice and another as a computer scientist cracking complex codes. Now, she is about to don a third -- a spacesuit.
The 43-year-old, also known as Lai Ka-ying in Cantonese, is now poised to make history as the first astronaut from Hong Kong to travel to space, and the country's fourth female space traveler, as a payload specialist for the Shenzhou-23 spaceflight mission.
Li was raised in Tsuen Wan, a Hong Kong district where century-old townhouses with a cozy, earthy feel stand next to modern skyscrapers. She was born there in November, the season when the bauhinia flowers, the HKSAR's official flower, bloom in full splendor.
At 15, on the night of June 30, 1997, Lai walked the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui with her family, feeling the electric anticipation of Hong Kong's return to China. She saw police officers take off their old badges at midnight and put on new ones with the bauhinia in the middle.
But back then, no one imagined that one day Li would carry that very flower, now on the mission insignia for the Shenzhou-23 mission, all the way to the stars.
Her parents had moved to Hong Kong from Shunde of south China's Guangdong Province last century. Like many families, they carried with them a deep, unspoken attachment to the motherland.
Li first noticed manned space in 2003, when Yang Liwei became China's first astronaut in space. But it was the story he shared later on in news clips that really touched her.
"He mentioned a conversation with an elderly overseas Chinese, who said, 'The higher China's spacecraft flies, the higher we overseas Chinese can hold up our heads,'" Li recalled. "That sentence really touched me."
She earned a doctorate in computer forensics from the University of Hong Kong and joined the Hong Kong Police Force in 2012, specializing in digital forensics and cybersecurity.
Li said she loved her work. "My time in the police force honed my perseverance and meticulous nature."
When a notice appeared in 2022 announcing that China was recruiting its fourth batch of reserve astronauts, and for the first time, opening selection to Hong Kong and Macao, something exciting stirred.
"The height requirement was 160 centimeters. I'm 161, just one centimeter over," she said with a laugh. "This is a rare chance. Why not try?"
"Even if I failed," she said, "just getting to meet future astronauts would be a rare experience." That willingness to step beyond a perfectly good career into the unknown defined everything that followed.
After three rounds of selection, Lai stood out from some 120 candidates from Hong Kong. In August 2024, she said goodbye to her husband and three young children and left for Beijing to join China's astronaut team.
The transition was uneasy. Mandarin, unfamiliar to her Cantonese tongue, was a daily struggle in the beginning. But physical training was a greater challenge later on: the centrifuge pressed the vision from her eyes; 72 hours without sleep; six days and five nights in dark caves; 48 hours in the scorching heat and freezing cold of the desert.
However, what she found hardest was the distance from her children.
"My youngest asked me, 'Why is Mommy going for training, not Daddy?'" She explained to her daughter: "Our family is a small home. Our country is a big home. Mommy has to go take care of the big home for a while."
The sacrifices paid off when Li completed over 200 training tasks across eight major categories, meeting all flight mission requirement.
For Hong Kong, Li's flight is more than a feel-good story. When the China Manned Space Agency announced her selection, HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee called it "a historic moment," and proof of the nation's recognition of Hong Kong's innovation and technology talent.
Li understands the weight she carries. "Because I come from Hong Kong, I have one more task to serve as a bridge for the space endeavors of Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland," she said.
This November, Li will celebrate her birthday in space, the same day as her youngest daughter's. For the first time, they will not be together. But she will take with her photos, drawings and letters from her family.
"When I miss them, I will take them out and take a look," she said. ■
