China’s millennial ‘new farmers’ opt to live off the land
Nascent back-to-the-farm movement in which young Chinese professionals are quitting the rat race for the simple joys of an organic, agrarian lifestyle
By Dan Martin
AFP
November 16, 2021
Excerpt:
So the 33-year-old chucked it all in to lay down literal roots as part of a nascent back-to-the-farm movement in which young Chinese professionals are quitting the rat race for the simple joys of an organic, agrarian lifestyle.
“People like me don’t feel that material comforts stimulate us, and deep down we remain unsatisfied,” said Hu.
“So we’ve started thinking, what is the purpose of our lives? What am I living for?”
In many ways, it’s a homecoming. Before the 20th century China was a primarily agrarian country for thousands of years, most of its vast population scratching out a life from the soil.
The ruling Communist Party, however, has for decades officially encouraged urbanisation and migration to growing cities to help lift millions out of rural poverty and build a more modern, consumer-oriented economy.
