Back in first-tier cities, some young people "returned to the cage"

This spring, some young people chose to return to first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

"I got back together with Beijing." Mr. Zhang recently returned to Beijing from his hometown, which he likened to his "lovers who have been entangled in love and hate for years." As a freelancer, he can theoretically live anywhere, but the most realistic reason is that "Party A still wants to be interviewed when he is in demand". Even as "digital nomads", there are clearly more job opportunities in first-tier cities.

Green, a real estate agent, felt the change. During the epidemic in 2022, there were many people who sublet him, and every tenant who left Beijing seemed to have made up their minds not to come back.

"After the New Year this year, more people have come to rent, and house prices have also increased." Ge Lin told the Zhongqing Daily reporter that on the weekend, he received 3 sets of customers, looked at more than 20 houses, and the number of WeChat steps reached 35819. Many of his clients are "returnees" who have returned from out of town.

"Return drift" describes those young people who repeatedly move between Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen and other cities, measured by the frequency of returning to first-tier cities, some are "drifting" twice, others are three or more times.

According to the "Post-95 Talent Attraction Ranking of Chinese Cities: 2022" released by Zhaopin.com and Zeping Macro, the net inflow of post-95 talents in first- and second-tier cities accounted for 9.1% and 3.4% respectively, much higher than the overall 5.4% and 0.4%.

Chang Mei, president of the BOSS Direct Recruitment Research Institute, also recently revealed a data that 23% of people will choose to return to first-tier cities after fleeing the north, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen for about 15 months.

"Beijing will not be my home"

"If life in Beijing is a fictional treasure map, then life back home is more like taking a wordless heavenly book." Douyin blogger "Old Wen Again" shared his feelings about returning to his hometown from Beijing. "After going through N unpleasant interviews and failed talent grant applications, I found that my hometown didn't seem to miss me. It seems that there are only a few options left for the work of the small town - teachers, doctors, civil servants ..."

In the comment area of this video, netizen "someone" expressed his opinion: "Big cities have big competition, and small cities don't even have the opportunity to compete." ”

In September 2022, 9-year-old Li Tian was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, which was caused by the work intensity of 22 for a consecutive year and the pressure of ultra-high sales performance. It was her first year of "drifting north", and the physical "protest" made her choose to quit her first job after graduating from undergraduate and choose to leave Beijing.

Since returning to his hometown in September 2022, Li Tian has been trying to find a decent job, "but Xiaocheng is really a place that needs special connections, and there are some good positions, but in fact, they are not recruited." She heard, "If you want to get a good job, you need to spend about 9,20 yuan to dredge up contacts and make connections."

"My family is in a county town near Harbin, and if I look for an ordinary job in Harbin, my monthly income is about 3000,6000 yuan." Li Tian said that her last job earned more than 5000,<> yuan, and in addition to the living expenses of <>,<> yuan a month, she can save nearly <>,<> yuan. "In this way, the workplace in Beijing is fair, and the evaluation criterion is personal ability."

"Then try the special post teacher." Li Tian's parents said that girls still have to find a "stable" job.

"It just so happens that my friend came ashore this year." Li Tian told reporters that it was this friend's story that made her decide to leave her hometown and return to Beijing again.

"I don't want to live a life with a glance at the head." Li Tian's friend told her that the (internship) salary was 2000,<> yuan, and the family had begun to arrange blind dates. "If I get admitted, it will probably be a job nearby, get married and have children soon, and my life will be characterized like this."

Li Tian wanted to take advantage of his youth and take a look at more.

"If it's just a low income, then I can lower my living standards, but the workplace atmosphere here makes me unacceptable, and everyone seems to be 'getting by'." Qi Siyao left Beijing at the end of 2019, and after studying abroad for two years, returned to his hometown Hohhot with his boyfriend to develop, and joined a live broadcast company, "The job responsibilities are not clear, the position of live broadcast operation is only me, I must be a 'comprehensive talent', I can do anything."

"When I joined, the company did not sign an employment contract with me." Qi Siyao told reporters, "It is common for wages and bonuses to be delayed for two months without paying five insurances and one housing fund, but it is indeed true that overtime is not often worked." ”

"Although there are few busy times, I am really anxious when I am idle and feel that I am wasting my time." Wang's hometown is in the Central Plains, and she studied at a university in Shanghai, majoring in fashion design. Before graduating in 2022, she got offers from two companies, one in Shanghai and the other in a small city in Zhejiang, about 100 kilometers away from Shanghai. The two companies offered the same salary - 7500 yuan.

"In Shanghai, I can rent more than that." Wang Xinyu chose a small city in Zhejiang, originally wanted to study clothing design well, and saved two years of experience to jump ship. But after entering the company, he was assigned to a management position, dealing with data reports and PPTs every day, and Wang Xinyu felt that this might not be the job he wanted.

Recently, Wang Xinyu posted on Douban, wanting to return to Shanghai and realize his life value in a fast-paced work environment.

In August 2022, after breaking up with her boyfriend, Qi Siyao resolutely resigned and returned to Beijing to "fight a battle". Not long ago, she joined a public company and is still engaged in live broadcast operations, but the team has 8 people. "The leaders value me very much, and here I slowly feel my value."

However, there were still moments when Qi Siyao doubted whether her choice to return to Beijing was the right one. Those moments are - the morning rush hour is pushed onto the subway by the flow of people; In the early hours of the morning when I worked overtime, I took a taxi home alone; Had to order takeout to squeeze time...

After recuperating his body, Li Tian packed his bag back to Beijing. In less than a month, she found a job as a short video director, related to her undergraduate major. Without 996, performance pressure is relatively small. "There are always a lot of opportunities in Beijing, and although the income is not as good as before, I think there will be more room for growth," she said. ”

Now, Li Tian, who runs her Douyin account outside of work, said: "Beijing will not be my home, and the next stop in life may be Hangzhou." ”

Under economic pressure, they "drift back"

"I came back to give an explanation to everyone who helped me." Li Junting confessed that her main purpose in returning to Beijing was to make money.

In 2008, 20-year-old Li Junting and a few classmates made an appointment to go to Beijing, she went from a real estate agency to a customer service for Vancl, and finally entered the insurance industry, living from basement to semi-basement and then moving into a building. ”

Ten years later, in the summer of 10, P2018P (Internet Finance Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform) exploded, and Li Junting was one of the investors. The investment failed and he owed 2,40 yuan. That same year, her marriage to her husband came to an end. When her daughter is two years old, she will receive 8,5 yuan in property.

"On the day of the divorce, I turned around and went to work." Li Junting told reporters that in the past few years in Beijing, she has been in a very fast pace of life. "There are too many excellent people in Beijing, and they are always in comparison. I want to change a big house, I want to change a better car, and the desire pulls my life, so many years, never stopping. ”

The successive blows caused Li Junting to fall into a long-term depression. At the beginning of 2020, when the new crown epidemic broke out, Li Junting and her brother were isolated in their hometown in Chifeng, and the brothers and sisters always talked together. "My brother often said that he felt sorry for me and didn't want me to fight alone in Beijing."

After leaving home at the age of 20, Li Junting rarely returned home, consciously owed her parents, and decided to take her children back to her hometown under the persuasion of her brother, "working hard to earn money to pay off debts and take good care of her parents."

"Chifeng is small and lives comfortably." Li Junting felt the slow pace that had been absent for a long time, "Even the speed limit for motor vehicles is different from Beijing. However, just six months after returning home, she found that she "couldn't make money." "At that time, I was at one of the largest live broadcast companies in Chifeng, bringing goods to enterprises." Li Junting's salary can only support her and her children's daily life, "not to mention paying off debts, there may be new debts if it goes on like this."

I still have to go back to Beijing. The month she planned to return to Beijing, her father's cerebral hemorrhage recurred and he was paralyzed, and after several entanglements, Li Junting decided to stay at home to take care of the elderly, but she couldn't let go of the debt in her heart. "I still owe money to my brothers and sisters and friends, who trusted me so much that they lent me a credit card, and then they were overdue and very tolerant of me." Li Junting said that in the darkest moment of life, thanks to the help of relatives and friends.

At the end of 2022, the epidemic prevention policy changed, her father's health also improved, and Li Junting returned to Beijing. With the recommendation of a former colleague, he returned to the insurance industry. "I fight hard every day now, but not for my own desires anymore." Ms. Li said she wanted to pay off her debts early and create better education and living conditions for her children.

"Even after returning to Beijing and experiencing the turmoil of layoffs in the education and training industry, I didn't think about leaving again." Zhang Shan is glad that she chose to return to Beijing before the epidemic began in 2019, and now she understands the young people who "can't get by" in small cities.

"When I left Beijing, I was pregnant and looked at the high housing prices, and I felt that I could not have a stable and happy life in Beijing." At that time, the provincial capital city of Taiyuan became the first choice for Zhang Shan and her lover, "I developed the high-tech zone, there are many shopping malls, and there are some art exhibitions and performances, and I think it is really good." After much deliberation, they booked an "off-plan house" in Taiyuan and officially settled down.

However, Zhang Shan did not expect that the "survival problem" became the primary problem faced by the family after moving to Taiyuan. "Whether it is starting a business or going to work, it can't meet our daily living expenses." Zhang Shan opened a flower shop in Taiyuan, but she soon found that as far as the flower market is concerned, getting a "big order" at the enterprise end requires rich connections, and the market for the public is mainly "low-price competition", "you don't need to look good, and you don't need to be a brand." In 9 months, the net profit was <>,<> yuan. ”

The cost of living for Zhang Shan's family of three is all tied to her husband's income. "His monthly salary is about 5000,4400 yuan, which is a very good income in Taiyuan." However, after deducting the 1000,<> yuan of mortgage that needs to be repaid every month, and leaving only <>,<> yuan of balance for daily living expenses, Zhang Shan feels stretched.

There are old people to support, and there are small ones to support, "although the cost of living in Beijing is large, we found that there is a balance after accounting." If in a few years, it may be difficult to find a job, and under economic pressure, the couple "returned".

In 2019, after selling their house in Taiyuan, the two returned to Beijing with their children and entered the Internet industry to work, and now their income can not only meet daily expenses, but also buy a house.

"Maybe it's not Shanghai that I miss it, but the people"

Many people flee the destination of a first-tier city not "hometown", but a strange town that is livable, but it is difficult to establish a new social circle there.

Most of Wang's classmates stayed in Shanghai, and the only acquaintances in the small town of Zhejiang were college classmates who joined the company with her. "No new social circles have been established here, on the one hand, because the company in the small city has low employee mobility, and everyone is older and can't talk together; On the other hand, the relationship between colleagues is not the same as that of friends and classmates, and you may feel that there may be some things that you cannot fully tell them. Wang Xinyu always felt that although it was a clothing company, it did not seem to be very inclusive.

"When I first came to this company, there was an intern who would draw a thick European and American makeup every day. But we will have craftsmen on our side who say that she wears too much makeup, which feels very exaggerated. When I don't make up, I say, 'I don't even recognize you.'" Wang Xinyu introduced that the craftsmen here may be sewing workers and have very strong skills, but their own cultural and fashion education is not enough, and they rarely see diversified dresses in daily life.

Every time at this time, she will miss some spontaneous "cultural fashion activities" in Wukang Road, Shanghai, "pioneer, free and inclusive", "Maybe this is not your daily life, for people in the fashion industry, it can indeed provide some creative atmosphere and inspiration." ”

There are also enthusiastic people who introduce boyfriends to Wang Xinyu, but they are all gone. "Boys here are more inclined to look for local girls, and people will think that you always have to leave, there are too many unstable factors." Wang Xinyu said that her parents hoped that she could find a boyfriend from abroad, so that the two could leave without worries if they had a better chance.

Wang Xinyu always wants to go back to Shanghai, and when she was in college, she liked to ride a shared bicycle from school to the Huangpu River with her classmates, blowing the wind, chatting and walking while walking, and also liked to visit Shanghai's strange market with friends.

"Maybe it's not Shanghai that I miss it, but the people." She said.

What impressed Zhang Shan was, "In Taiyuan, it is difficult for me to integrate into the 'community social circle'. She often felt that she was out of step with the parenting philosophy of the people around her.

After returning to Beijing, Zhang Shan and his wife found their own fixed social circle, "Everyone often goes out to play, they will discuss something together, whether it is feasible or not, friends will always discuss and suggest, and will also share some of their own insights." This is a rare experience in Taiyuan: "Because in Taiyuan we know fewer people, everyone's direction is actually more obvious, life is more comfortable, there is no obvious desire to do something together." ”

In Qi Siyao's view, returning to Beijing from Hohhot again has regained his social interests and abilities. "The large population base of first-tier cities means that the likelihood of meeting interesting people increases." After "returning to the cage", Qi Siyao has more interest in making new friends, and "chatting with friends itself is the process of input".

In the north, there are many ways to make friends.

Zhang Yang is regarded by his friends as an out-and-out literary and artistic youth, and most of his circle of friends in Beijing has been established through exhibitions, dramas, films and lectures.

"Before 2020, Peking University was not closed to management, and I often went to Mr. Dai Jinhua's classes, and I met some 'close friends' at that time." Zhang Yang said.

In the fall of 2021, the bar he and a friend owned went bankrupt. In November of the same year, he quit his lease and took a 11-hour green train back to Baotou. Arrived at 16:5 a.m., got off the bus and wanted to have breakfast, only to find that most of the breakfast stalls were closed.

He wrote in Moments of Friends: "I think every hungry morning in the future will miss the Beijing breakfast at two o'clock in the night and the 30-minute delivery brother." ”

Before returning home, he took a mechanical hard drive from which thousands of movies had been downloaded, bought hand-brewed coffee equipment and a projector, and tried to counter the town's "almost blank" cultural life with a "shallow, boring but decent" lifestyle. After returning home, Zhang Yang became a copywriter. "Not only film reviews, but everything to do."

In Baotou, he also tried to integrate into the social circle of his junior and senior high school classmates, but Zhang Yang regretted to find: "Due to the different life experiences of each other, it is difficult to have a common language after recalling youth with classmates." He said: "The longest one was 25 days without going out. ”

"To be honest, the first time I drifted north, there was a fear, this place would make me feel unconfident, everyone was so good, I always felt that I might not be able to put down roots here." Zhang Shan said.

"Beijing has always been like this, competitive, stressful and fast-paced; But when you come back, you always have to be clear about what the map is, it may be material comforts, it may be medical resources, it may be spiritual needs. Zhang Yang said.

"In addition to income, I think the biggest point is that there are more opportunities, because to be honest, everyone will face a mid-life crisis, and in first-tier cities, there will definitely be more opportunities to solve various crises, and educational resources are more secure." Zhang Shan does not regret her choice to return to Beijing.

"If you want to 'return to the drift', you may have to plan early, even in first-tier cities, women do not have an advantage in the workplace, and the older you get, the more you suffer." The 23-year-old Wang Xinyu has begun to have a 35-year-old crisis, and in addition to Shanghai, new first-tier cities such as Hangzhou are her "alternatives".

(Pseudonyms at the request of interviewees)

Wang Xueer, trainee reporter of China Youth Daily Source: China Youth Daily