Escape from Hong Kong, i.e. fleeing to British Hong Kong, known as the "Great Escape from Hong Kong" in mainland China and the "Smuggling Wave" in Hong Kong, refers to the phenomenon of a large number of people from mainland China attempting to smuggle themselves into British Hong Kong between the 1950s and the time of reform and opening up of the Chinese mainland. Since the 1951 Sino-British blockade of the border, there have been four large-scale waves of smuggling, the first around 1957, during the implementation of the People's Communalization; the second from 1961 to 1962, after three years of famine; the third in 1972; and the fourth in 1979, when a large number of people fled to Hong Kong in order to escape from poverty and starvation. The exodus also contributed to and reinforced the anti-communist ideology in British Hong Kong.
        The Great Escape Monument is under construction and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.