Shenzhen Youth Community. Photo: Sina Weibo

The Shenzhen branch of the Chinese Communist Youth League is providing seven days of free accommodation for mainland students studying in Hong Kong, as many of the students are trying to escape Hong Kong after many universities virtually became war zones due to riots.

There are 12 such communities in eight districts of Shenzhen, and mainland students studying in Hong Kong are welcome to check in at any time. Students can apply for accommodation through WeChat, the official website or telephone.

According to Global Times reporters in Hong Kong, some mainland students at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) have arrived at docks and are ready to return to Shenzhen.

As of Tuesday midnight, there were still 200 students at CUHK who needed to be rescued, and most of them had to hide in their dormitories.

Early Wednesday morning, there were still a large number of masked black-clad rioters at the campus. The campus' main exits were blocked by rioters, and many of them had knocked on the doors of mainland students' dormitories.

"My tutor and my family also want to leave and there are children and seniors. Can I bring them as well?" a mainland student asked Global Times reporters in Hong Kong on Wednesday morning.

Dapeng New District Overseas Chinese Returnees Association in Shenzhen is also helping mainland students to evacuate.

Li Da, secretary general of the Dapeng New District Overseas Chinese Returnees Association in Shenzhen, told the Global Times on Wednesday that more than 20 mainland students have contacted him to try and escape Hong Kong, and the number is increasing rapidly.

"All the mainland students who contacted us are still in Hong Kong. They are overwhelmed and anxious, and some parents called us, asking us to save their children from the chaos," Li said.

Li told the Global Times that he will send these mainland students' information to the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Hong Kong Mainland Students Association, so as to help these students leave more quickly.

"These students could not find a car and did not know how to reach the port. They urgently need to escape, and some of them are not in a calm mental state," Li said.

Li noted that his top priority is to provide more information for these students to help them evacuate.

Global Times reporters in Hong Kong helped to rescue these mainland students on Tuesday. Hong Kong lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu called the reporters on Tuesday evening to offer help to save the mainland students.