[6] Notable escapees include Wu'erkaixi, Chai Ling, Li Lu, Feng Congde, Chen Yizi, and Su Xiaokang.
[1] Reverend Chu Yiu-Ming, a core member of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China during 1989, also asserted that the name originated from the Haitian folk song "Yellow Bird".
[8] In an interview with South China Morning Post, he explained that the group "wanted the activists to fly freely in the sky, just like the yellow birds".
[6] According to The Washington Post, after the Beijing protest crackdown, this group drew up an initial list of 40 dissidents they believed could form the nucleus of "a Chinese democracy movement in exile", with the help of the western intelligence agencies, and Asia's mafia, the Triads.
[6] Amounts spent on the rescue would vary between HK$50,000 and $500,000 depending on the specific logistics taking account of the political risks, and number of attempts.
[8] Rescue money was mainly raised privately by the Operation, for fear of alerting British authorities at the time who were being careful before Hong Kong's transfer to China in 1997.
[3][15] These seven individuals were Wu’er Kaixi, Chai Ling, Feng Congde, Li Lu, Liang Qingtun, Wang Chaohua and Zhang Boli, while the remaining fourteen on the list had either turned themselves in or were subsequently captured.
[6] Some other escapees include Chen Yizi and Yan Jiaqi, senior government advisers to Zhao Ziyang at the time, along with the wanted intellectual, Su Xiaokang.
[10][15] In addition to pro-democracy activists, defected People's Liberation Army soldiers and police staff who provided aid to the operation were also rescued, some of whom carried weapons when they arrived in Hong Kong.
[10] Escapees generally reached Guangdong, through the help of sympathizers and escape teams who hid them in houses, factories and warehouses, where they were then taken to Hong Kong.
[4] Smugglers relied on their contacts within the Chinese police and coast guards to ensure successful trips, while other customs and immigration officials were occasionally bribed to turn a blind eye.
[10] Four main routes were used to get dissidents from Guangdong to Hong Kong: Shekou to Tuen Mun's Castle Peak Power Station, Huidong to Chai Wan, Shanwei to Wong Chuk Hang and Nan’ao to Sai Kung.
[8] A fifth passage, Chung Ying Street in Sha Tau Kok, was also an option for escapees since one side belonged to Hong Kong and the other to mainland China.
[7] Chan Tat-Ching, or Brother Six, also helped with the operation as he had access to different speedboats and smugglers who specialized in moving goods between mainland China and Hong Kong.
[6] British authorities allowed the operation to continue, disregarding how dissidents entered the colony so long as they left to another country quickly and quietly.
[14] In an interview with Bloomberg, Alistair Asprey, former Secretary for Security in Hong Kong, said that officials met with staff of foreign consulates on different occasions to ask about accepting dissidents.
Chinese students in France were at the start of the procession, surrounding a giant drum, their foreheads girded with white mourning cloth, bicycles in hand.