Illustration by Shin Dong-jun
A long line of travelers stretched in front of airport check-in counters and security checkpoints, their faces weary as they waited. At Shenzhen Baoan International Airport in Guangdong province, a regional hub in southern China connected to major airports across the country, it was a familiar sight — until one man breezed past them as if the line did not exist.
Shin Young-chul, a professor from Korea, was ushered down a carpeted priority lane to a dedicated counter. The stringent ID checks often associated with Chinese airports were waived for him, and within seconds, he passed through security and was guided to a VIP lounge.
After the entire process, which took less than five minutes, Shin leisurely waited for his flight before departing for Dali, Yunnan province.
For Shin, who has been based in Shenzhen for five years, the experience no longer comes as a surprise. As an associate research professor in the department of chemical biology at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), he is recognized by the Guangdong provincial and Shenzhen municipal governments as high-level foreign talent.
