Organised by the Education Bureau (Applicable to Primary and Secondary Schools)
An Exploration into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cities (2026/27)
Summary
This circular memorandum invites primary and secondary schools (including special schools) to nominate Primary 4 to Secondary 3 students and teaching staff (including principals) to participate in the captioned programmes. Relevant information will also be sent to schools via the “Fast Information Transmission System - School Messaging Module” (SMM).
Details
The Education Bureau (EDB) organises “An Exploration into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cities ─ Mainland Exchange Programmes for Primary and Secondary School Students (2026/27)” (the Programmes). In line with the school curriculum, the Programmes aim at providing different learning experiences for students to understand the development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) cities in the arts, technology, natural ecology, aerospace, aviation and the economy, and to learn about the strengths of and opportunities for Hong Kong and the respective GBA cities, thereby enhancing their sense of national identity.
The EDB has commissioned service providers to organise eight tours in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao GBA cities, ranging from one to two days, for Primary 4 to Secondary 3 students. Please refer to Annex 1 (Chinese version only) for details of the Programmes and application procedures, and Annex 2 (Chinese version only) for the itineraries of the respective tours and examples of their linkages with the curriculum.
Schools should proactively encourage students who have not joined any Mainland exchange programmes to participate in at least one subsidised Mainland exchange programme (MEP) in their primary and secondary stages. In addition, starting from 10 July 2024, non-Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of Hong Kong may apply for the “Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Permanent Residents (Non-Chinese Citizens)” from the China Travel Service Entry Permit Service Hong Kong Limited. Schools should remind eligible students to complete the application procedures soon so that they can use the E-channels at ports of entry for immigration clearance and need not fill in the Arrival Card when entering the Mainland, thus enhancing clearance efficiency. For details, please refer to the respective webpage (https://www.ctshk.com/mep/zh/nrep_notice_mep/).
Schools may apply for more than one tour in the 2026/27 school year. Schools interested to participate in the Programme(s) may refer to the application procedures from the websites of the respective service providers from 14 October 2026. The completed application form should be returned to the service providers within the specified period (Please refer to Annex 2) before the planned departure date of the tour.
Starting from the 2024/25 school year, schools will receive the latest itinerary information and application details of MEPs for students via the SMM. The EDB will continue to issue individual Circular Memoranda on MEPs and adjust relevant arrangements based on actual circumstances.
Enquiries
For general enquiries of the Programmes, please contact the Life-wide Learning and Mainland Exchange Section 2 of the EDB on 2892 6106 (for the trip of GBA1, GBA6 and GBA7), 2892 6472 (for the trip of GBA2, GBA4, GBA5), 2892 5936 (for the trip of GBA3) or 2892 6304 (for the trip of GBA8). For more information about MEPs, please visit the “Passing on the Torch” website (https://www.passontorch.org.hk/en/index.html).
For further details of the Scheme, please refer to the Education Bureau Circular Memorandum No. 162/2026. (Download)