Tired of the situation and the pressure of work in China, many young people have retreated to the countryside. China's Generation Z is documenting their "early retirement" in the countryside and posting it on social media.
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| Chinese youth return to their hometowns to film videos of cooking in a simple, traditional rural style. (Source: QQ) |
Last year, 22-year-old Wenzi Dada declared himself retired. He moved to Guizhou, a mountainous region in China, built a bamboo hut, filmed his life, and posted it on Douyin, a social media platform owned by ByteDance that was designed specifically for the billion-person market.
Wenzi had worked various jobs in auto repair, construction, and manufacturing in the big city. However, he got tired of working with machines every day and quit to return to his hometown.
“Over time, I began to think about the meaning of life. Life is not only about prosperity in cities. The peace of the countryside is also a good choice,” he shared.
Since moving to the mountains, Wenzi has been uploading videos on Douyin about cooking, growing and harvesting vegetables...
Hard to find a job in a big city
Explaining the issue of young people "leaving the city to return to the countryside", Mr. Chung Chi Nien, Professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said that when the world's second largest economy is facing difficulties, finding a job is especially difficult for young people.
The professor explained that this year, 11.8 million university graduates will enter the labor market. This will increase competition, leading to a "devaluation" of university degrees. For individuals with fewer degrees and experience, their chances of being hired will decrease.
China's youth unemployment rate hit a new record high of 18.8% in August 2024, up from 17.1% in July.
The recent data comes amid a string of disappointing economic signals as the world's second-largest economy continues to grapple with falling domestic demand and a weakening housing sector.
“If you combine these factors together, it is no surprise that young people are choosing to ‘retreat’ or ‘retire’ to rural areas because finding jobs is becoming very difficult, especially good jobs in big cities,” said Professor Chung.
Popular destinations for young people include Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan - provinces where the cost of living is just a quarter of Shanghai's.
Ms. Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China, informed that in the past three years, high value-added service industries that used to attract many new graduates have declined sharply. These are industries such as real estate and finance... Meanwhile, there are lower-paying jobs in cities such as delivery... that are not chosen by young people with degrees.
Keyu Jin, an associate professor of economics at the London School of Economics, found that young people don’t want to do these jobs either. “They would rather sit at home with their parents and wait for a better job,” she said.
But China's young "retirees" have hit back at criticism that they are too picky or have given up.
“This is not about resting, but preparing for retirement,” said Wenzi.
In his videos, he said, many people criticized his lifestyle and compared him to people his age who have stable jobs. “Who told young people to go out and work?” Wenzi said.
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| Young Chinese people work in the fields. (Source: Getty Images). |
Just a temporary trend?
Grasping the unemployment trend, many businesses have implemented the model of "youth nursing home".
According to one nursing home founder, these facilities allow young people to come and “lie down” whenever they want. They typically do not accept guests over the age of 45.
“Young people experiencing high levels of stress or feelings of despair are looking for places to reflect and potentially reset their lives. This has fueled the demand for youth nursing homes,” noted Jia Miao, associate professor at NYU Shanghai.
But how long can this wave of “retirements” and “nursing homes” last?
Many experts see that, in the short term, rural China will continue to be a good respite and refuge from urban unemployment.
“These young people may not stay in the countryside for long. Because these areas do not offer the modern, middle-class lifestyle that young Chinese want, let alone high-quality health care and education.
This type of reverse migration is also unlikely to be a long-term trend but is only temporary… The ultimate goal of those young people is still to return to the city for a long time,” Ms. Dan Wang affirmed.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/thanh-nien-trung-quoc-chon-nghi-huu-som-tim-su-binh-yen-o-cac-vung-que-288553.html
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