Rural escapism: Why China’s young urbanites are romanticising countryside living

But official statistics in recent years have pointed to a notable reverse flow, driven by a combination of economic pressures, government initiatives and changing lifestyle aspirations.

Figures released in 2025 showed that more than 12 million people had returned to rural areas to start businesses, creating new industries and innovative business models, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The fascination with rural living has also grown alongside broader societal conversations about burnout and economic uncertainty, experts said.

Vivianne Zhang Wei, an ethnographer who spent a year travelling across rural China, noted that many young adults were leaving first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai under a wide range of circumstances.

The trend may not be unique to China, but “in China it has some unique aspects”, Zhang told CNA, pointing to state-backed efforts under the country’s rural revitalisation strategy.

Launched in 2017, it aims to modernise China’s agriculture and rural sectors by 2035 – and attract educated young people and talent back to countryside cities and provinces.

But government policy is only part of the picture, Zhang said – noting that many young Chinese urbanites relocating to rural areas were also “driven by exhaustion and disillusionment” amid rising living costs, high youth unemployment rates and a weak job market.

“Slow rural living is the imagined antidote,” Zhang said.