NPR

Hong Kong's 'McRefugees' On The Rise Amid Summer Heat

Hundreds in the Chinese territory regularly sleep in 24-hour air conditioned McDonald's restaurants, but a new survey shows the trend is increasing and is not limited to the homeless.
"McRefugees" asleep at a McDonalds outlet in the Kowloon district of Hong Kong in a photo taken in April, 2016.

Hoping to escape Hong Kong's summer temperatures, more people are settling into the city's numerous 24-hour McDonald's restaurants to soak in the air conditioning and get a decent night's sleep.

A new survey finds that the number of "McRefugees" or "McSleepers" --as they've been dubbed-- has increased six-fold in the past five years.

And, it's not just the

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