A China-chic animation-themed space created by young people in Yucun village in Anji, East China's Zhejiang Province, attracts visitors to take photos on June 5, 2023. Photo: VCG

As the Spring Festival approaches, 30-year-old Shen Yuning is packing up all her stuff to bid farewell to Beijing, a metropolis where she has been living and working for eight years.   

Some small-town youth are still heading to major cities to make a fortune, like the Shanghai deliveryman Chen Si who reportedly earned more than 1 million yuan ($140,000) in three years, and "small-town test takers" that are still competing fiercely for a job with a hukou. 

However, more and more young people are exchanging higher income in metropolises at the expense of long worktime and commuting for better work-life balance in smaller cities and towns. The dynamic cyber economy, and booming small-town tourism, which is expected to see another spike in the upcoming Spring Festival holidays, have created new career possibilities for them. 

"It is not an easy decision to leave a place where I have so many friends and memories, but moving to a smaller city is more cost-efficient for my current business," Shen told the Global Times.  

After she graduated from university, she worked for a large film distribution corporation. Then, in 2020, she worked with her former employer, on a project basis due to the "industry winter." In July 2023, Shen and her friend started their own business, helping video bloggers market their contents and expand their influence - a job she can do wherever there is an internet connection. 

As her business gradually began to take off, Shen recruited two helpers and decided to open her office in Qinhuangdao, North China's Hebei Province, which lies between Beijing and her hometown Huludao in Northeast China's Liaoning. 

She still needs to meet partners in Beijing every so often, but "rents are one fifth of Beijing outer ring and I am closer to my aging parents," Shen said. 

Such a work-life pattern would be impossible without the high-speed train system. The bullet train from Qinghuangdao to Beijing takes 100 minutes and around 60 minutes to her hometown. 

Digital nomad   

Shen is not alone as the latest available data shows the four "first-tier" cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen - saw palpable drops of residents.   

Becoming a digital nomad like Shen, working anywhere with a scenic view, is one option. Yucun village in Anji, East China's Zhejiang offers a lab for this lifestyle. 

Yucun village, once depending on a quarry but facing draining resources and a damaged environment, embarked on a path of green development by boosting its eco-tourism industry and was named one of the "Best Tourism Villages" by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, according to Xinhua. 

Chen Zhe, an Anji native, visited Yucun in 2022 for a weekend-long trip but ended up staying for several months. He later opened a Chinese comic-themed cafe in the village where many young vloggers, online novelists and graphic designers come to work. 

They live in commune-style apartments and hostels and the leisure activities range from film screening and reading tea parties to ball games and hiking, "much happier than renting a tiny room in Beijing and spending hours on subways every day," said Xiaohongshu blogger "Little Sheep," a brand online marketer who moved to Yucun in February 2023 after the Spring Festival. 

"People come and go as many 'nomads' are just seeking a gap from work and before eventually finding a "traditional" job, either in a metropolis or their small hometown" "Little Sheep" told the Global Times. 

Anji is 40-minute of high-speed train from provincial capital Hangzhou and two and a half hours from Shanghai. 

"Returning to Anji to start a business, I can be closer to my family and help create jobs for people in my hometown," Chen told Xinhua, "Who can say no to a job surrounded by such beautiful nature?"

The prospering youth community also makes catering, car-hailing and entertainment industries flourish in this small town. China's booming cyber economy provides youth with an opportunity to make better work-life balance and points out a unique path of rural revitalization. 

Seeking balance

However, not everyone can be a digital nomad. Dang Hui, 26, is a makeup artist, a "completely offline business." Dang, after working in Hangzhou for five years, returned to her hometown Luoyang, Central China's Henan Province in 2023. 

Tourism in Luoyang saw a boom in 2023 after the epidemic. The city was the capital for several ancient dynasties and has many ancient style gardens and buildings. Dressing up in hanfu and taking photos ranks top on the "must do list for Luoyang."   

This trend opens a whole new market for make-up artists and Dang stood out with her make-up techniques, her knowledge of traditional beauty and dressing culture, as well as being able to recommend "unknown places for nice pictures" as a local. 

There was little demand for make-up artists in Luoyang. "If it were not for the tourism boom, I would not be able to return home and get a job at a photo studio with a reasonable salary," Dang told the Global Times. 

Dang and her colleagues expecting a super busy Spring Festival as the hotel booking jumped to 10 times of 2023, suggesting a large number of tourists are coming. 

Such photo experiences are popular across China with variations: Russian imperial princesses in Harbin, Northeast China's Helongjiang, minority girls in Lhasa, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, jungle fairies in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China's Yunnan, and many more.  

The booming tourism of smaller cities and towns also means opportunities for young people to inject their creativity into souvenir products, restaurants and cafes, and homestays to vitalize these sectors. 

The Global Times learned from a village in Xunwu county, East China's Jiangxi Province that more and more young college graduates are choosing to stay in their hometowns to explore eco-tourism and livestreaming sales of agricultural products. 

"They earn less than staying in major cities, but the life expenses are low, bond between people is tight, and there is a strong sense of fulfillment through helping the farmers," a local college graduate village chief told the Global Times on condition of anonymity. 

Sweet pains 

The emergency of new cyber-based sectors, and the popularity of small-town tourism allowed more talents to find an ideal position not far from home.

For those who already returned, the new life brings about sweet pains. 

Dang, the make-up artist, complained the inconvenience of living at home. She has to listen to mom's nagging about her always staying up and having to report her whereabouts frequently when hanging out with friends late at night.  

Nagging her to get married and settle down is another common issue many small town returnees face. "I can no longer use busy work or overtime as an excuse to escape arranged dating," Dang said. 

But they are "sweet pains," Dang said. As the only child of her parents, Dang can spend a lot of time with and take better care of her parents who have retired and are getting older and weaker. 

Though the restraint of so-called traditional code and conduct is stronger in small places, Dang chose to view it from a more positive perspective - the neighbors know each other, gossip about each other and help each other. 

There are pros and cons to living in a metropolis and a small hometown. The secret is to carefully weigh them up and choose what is suitable for you.