Leung said he was initially confident that the restrictions would be relaxed, but he had heard no good news by September. His confidence dropped every day, and as November drew closer, he felt increasingly anxious.

"So, you can imagine how excited I was when the Hong Kong government finally announced the new measure early last month," he said.

On Nov 11, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government announced that the new plan, Return2hk, would take effect on Nov 23, with quota of 5,000 places available every day.

Eligible residents can apply online for a quarantine exemption and choose a return date and border control point. They must also produce a negative nucleic acid test result within three days of arriving in Hong Kong.

Leung completed all the preparatory work, but was still worried that the plan would be postponed, as Hong Kong was experiencing a fourth wave of the pandemic.

The new infections led to the postponement of the much-anticipated travel bubble between the city and Singapore on Nov 22, one day before Return2hk was due to start.

It was later announced that the bubble, which provides for quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and Singapore, was being postponed to next year, subject to a review later this month.

Leung said: "Fortunately, Return2hk was not postponed. I was very happy about that and I was able to enter Hong Kong smoothly on the morning of Nov 23."

The new plan helped Leung avoid some financial losses. He planned to stay in Hong Kong for two days before returning to Shenzhen.

Although he faced 14 days' isolation in Shenzhen, he said it was good news that, after eight months, the quarantine period had been reduced from 28 days.

He said he hoped the pandemic would end as soon as possible and that travel between Hong Kong and the mainland could return to normal.

According to Hong Kong's Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, around 21,220 people have applied to return under the plan between Nov 23 and Dec 13.