Liu Jinpeng prepares fried chicken nuggets and potatoes. A courier will arrive shortly to take the order. Liu's restaurant is located in the center of Linquan, in central China. There is not much work in this poor area and many leave their hometowns to seek livelihood in the big cities, ARD writes.
The 31-year-old engineer Liu also worked for several years in Nanjing and Hefei - cities with about ten million inhabitants. The man says that his job there was not secure - he was even unemployed for three months. It was his desire for more stability that made him reorient himself to another job and another place. “My friend was already involved in catering and we decided to join forces. I went back to Linquan and started my own business," Liu told ARD.
Most people leave Linquan to look for work elsewhere because there are no big companies and high-paying positions in the city. The only good option is to have your own business, says the man and admits that it is not easy at all, but he still manages to stay above water.
20 years of constant job change
A few blocks away, Yu Lin's shop offers takeout - boiled chicken, pickled pork and salads. The 49-year-old also returned to Linquan with her husband to start her own business. The two lived for more than two decades in Beijing.
The woman told the German public media that she and her husband worked on various things in the Chinese capital, “We didn't want to live like this anymore – we drove it that way for over 20 years. Two of our three children were born in Beijing. We were fed up with this work, we wanted to rest,”, Lin explains. So far, their hometown business is not bringing them much profit. But they have no intention of returning to Beijing, the woman explains.
Citizens first and second class
The Communist state and party leadership divides China's population into two broad categories - rural and urban dwellers. Those who arrive in large metropolises from outside do not have the same rights as those born in the cities – enjoy fewer social benefits and worse health services, writes ARD. As a rule, their children attend worse schools or have to be left to be raised by their grandparents in the countryside.
The goal of becoming residents of the city or buying an apartment there is achievable only for a few. Therefore, most of them return to their hometowns at some point, as Lin Yu and her husband do. "Life in big cities is too hectic and stressful, at home it is more relaxed. If we do the math, the end result is similar," she says. “On the one hand, in the city you can earn more, but rents are also very high, public transport, food – you spend a lot of money there."
Another reason for their return to Anhui District is that in recent years, they earn much less money in Beijing than before. This is due to the general state of the economy in China. She has not yet recovered after the end of strict measures to protect against the coronavirus. Indebted municipalities, the real estate crisis and weak domestic demand are affecting the economy, and many young people are out of work. There is no support from the state, and the pressure on them is great, writes ARD. Even very well qualified people can no longer afford the expensive city life.
Small towns are catching up
A small night market next to Linquan Mall: there are stalls selling Chinese fast food, dumplings, fried tofu and noodle soups. Ren Wenwen and her husband have been standing behind a small cart every night for a year, selling rice dough sandwiches that are grilled on a hot plate. Before that, the 28-year-old woman worked as a model in a fashion center in the technological metropolis of Hangzhou, writes ARD.
"Of course, you can earn more in the big city. "Sometimes I also regret coming back when I see the life my former colleagues have there, it's better," says Ren. "But the work was so exhausting, the pressure was so great. There were many conflicts, I was so exhausted. That's why I came back, here I have more freedom."
Liu, a former engineer who now sells food, also feels freer in his hometown. And the standard of living in smaller towns is already approaching that of megacities, says the 31-year-old man: "Life here is actually good. Shopping, restaurants, housing and transportation - everything is fine,'' he says. “There is even an amusement park, a zoo and movie theaters. The differences between small and large cities are no longer as great as they were ten years ago.“
Author: Benjamin Eisel ARD