Source: Market Watch
BEIJING ( Caixin Online ) — What is the most common feeling in China today? I think many people would say disappointment. This feeling comes from the insufficient improvement in their lives that people are achieving amid rapid economic growth. It also comes from the contrast between the degree to which individual social status is rising and the idea of the “rise of a great and powerful nation.”
One phenomenon is a good example of such disappointment: A group of young college graduates “escaping and returning” to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Their reasons for “fleeing” are not difficult to imagine. Work pressure in these extremely large cities is high, competition is intense and the cost of living is high. So the young people chose to move to small and medium-sized cities to start their careers. The reason they returned to the big cities was that in many small and medium-sized cities ability, knowledge or even a diploma are not what open doors. Instead, what are required are networks of relationships. Family background also makes it difficult for young people from common families to better their lives, and they do not see a way out.
Read More: China: A country where no one is secure
Cartoon by Bob Moran
