"Half the people in Ho Chi Minh City were unemployed," recalls railway tour guide Huynh Kim Thuy. In those days the daily meal consisted of sweet-potatoes and rice. With people going hungry and the difficulties mounting, the Chinese began to think that the only solution was to get out of the country.
「胡志明市有一半以上的人失業」，在鐵路旅遊服務中心擔任導遊員的麥金湖回憶，那段日子就在每天吃地瓜飯，半飽半餓的情況下度過種種困境，因而促使華人想盡辦法逃離越南。