transiting through a dozen countries to make it to the border and into America.

Leaving China was a decision Kevin felt he had to make to avoid what he called punishment for speaking out against corruption.

He says he was jailed twice and allegedly mistreated by authorities.

His family is still in China, that's why we're hiding his identity.

What was the biggest risk to staying? - I would be going to jail.

You would go to jail? - Yeah, I'll go to jail. Of course.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, at least 4,300 Chinese migrants have been caught crossing the southern border illegally in the past five months alone, more than double the total for all of last year.

Kevin told us about his journey that took several weeks by plane, bus, boat, and motorcycle through treacherous jungles in the Darien Gap before ending on foot at this barren section of the border where he finally got through.

And the migrants we've met, including Kevin, say they aren't paying smugglers.

They're able to do it all with information, maps, and advice readily available on Chinese social media.

How much information is out there, helping people make the same journey that you made?"

Oh, they have a lot of information, trust me.

Step by step, it's all there. This is how you get to America.

Yes, of course. Step by step.

Chinese social media sites are even giving tips on where to cross. Here in California, it's considered a better bet over Arizona or Texas because of its immigration policies.

So just how much is there at the fingertips of people wanting to leave China for the U.S.?

Can you show me the sort of information that's out there online?

Producer Arnie Hekela and I met with John who left his family behind in China.

Okay, this is detailing out the Mexico portion. You can see the cities are listed here.

It even tells you which buses to take and from where to where.

John took us into chat groups on the Telegram app that offer information on everything: where to stay, how to get there, even how much cash they'll need to bring.

The new phenomenon is people are trying to make money from this information,

so they're giving a little bit of information out at a time, and if you want more information about particular routes or if you get further along in your journey, they're going to demand more and more money.

What kind of money are we talking about? What is this information worth?

At the U.S.-Mexico border, if you want information on where exactly is best to cross, that's going to run between 1300 and 2000 US dollars.

If you want a guarantee that you won't be apprehended by CBP, that's going to run you about ten thousand to twenty thousand dollars.

That more Chinese are undertaking such a radical journey with no guarantees in the U.S. comes as the country is emerging from years of harsh zero COVID rules and facing a wilting economy.

I think what we're seeing now are people who are more middle class who just feel that the opportunities are diminishing and that the political situation has just become a lot riskier,

and so they are finding any method, by hook or by crook, to get out of China.

An exodus driven by the power of social media.

And NBC's Janice Mackey Frayer joins us now from Beijing live.

Janice, what's happening to these asylum seekers once they get to the United States?

Gotti, the people selling the information on social media will guarantee, for a price, to have someone meet these Chinese migrants at the border.

Though in a lot of cases, we were told they actually want to be picked up by CBP because that then allows them to begin their asylum process in the U.S.

From there, every situation is different.

Some people will start to work to pay off the debts that they have to family and friends, the money that helped get them there,

while others, like Kevin who you saw in the story, are okay for cash, and that allows time to study English and settle in a bit better.

What isn't clear right now is whether this spike in the number of Chinese nationals is actually going to trend higher.

China has only just reopened its borders after harsh zero-COVID rules kept the country effectively shut, and that was also a time when most Chinese passports were not being renewed.

So with more Chinese nationals now able to travel, and with Title 42 expiring in May, there could be more people undertaking this journey.

It's something that both Kevin and Zhang told us when we were doing this story that most Chinese are well aware of Title 42 expiring and they predict a rush at the border. Gotti.