Hong Kong's First Astronaut Teaches From Space Station

Students across Hong Kong watched in wonder as their city's first astronaut cooked chicken wings in zero gravity, 400 kilometers above Earth.

Lai Ka-ying connected live from the Tiangong space station Wednesday for a 90-minute lesson that brought science to life for thousands of students. She answered questions from her former school, Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College, while the session streamed to campuses across Hong Kong and Macau.

The astronaut didn't just demonstrate experiments. She showed students how she picks out Hong Kong's glowing lights from the darkness of space, making the impossible feel suddenly within reach.

Lai joined the lesson alongside her crewmates, mission commander Colonel Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan. Together they offered glimpses of daily life aboard the station, turning routine tasks into teachable moments about physics and perseverance.

When students asked about her journey to space, Lai emphasized the foundation that made it possible. She encouraged them to build strong skills in math and science, telling them to "keep pushing and never fear hardships."

"My education background, research and development experience, and my career have laid critical foundations for me to seize this opportunity," she told the students. "I hope you can constantly equip themselves and be brave and proactive as opportunities come along."

The Ripple Effect

The lesson reached far beyond one school's walls. Television broadcasts brought the experience into living rooms, while the China Manned Space Agency partnered with Hong Kong and Macau governments to maximize the reach. Young people who might never have considered careers in science watched someone from their own city living among the stars.

For students at Lai's alma mater, the impact hit even deeper. Their school halls had shaped the same person now conducting experiments in orbit, proof that extraordinary paths can start with ordinary beginnings.

The event represented more than just education. It showed an entire generation that space exploration isn't reserved for distant countries or unreachable heroes.

Somewhere in those school halls, future astronauts watched Lai explain zero gravity cooking and saw their own possibilities expand beyond Earth's atmosphere.