Hometown grads return to cities

大学毕业生重返“北上广”

He, 26, who graduated in accountancy from Beijing Forestry University in 2008, left the capital city to go to his hometown of Panjin in Liaoning last summer. By then, he could no longer tolerate Beijing’s soaring housing prices, deteriorating air quality, and packed subway carriages.
26岁的何玉璋2008年毕业于北京林业大学会计系。去年夏天，由于忍受不了北京飞涨的房价、不断恶化的空气质量以及拥挤的地铁，他离开北京回到了家乡辽宁盘锦。

He is now in Beijing again after a year’s absence. He said: “In my hometown, I discovered it was hard to find anything in common with former friends. I cannot figure out the complicated network of social relationships.”
一年之后，何玉璋又重新回到了北京。他说：“在家乡，我发现很难在自己和从前的朋友间找到共同点。我弄不清楚那些复杂的社会关系网。”

His illusions about living in a small city burst like bubbles. He’s experience is not unusual. Many young employees or college grads, who successfully fled the big cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are streaming back.
他对于小城生活的幻想就像泡沫一样破灭了。而他这种经历并不少见。许多成功逃离“北上广”等大城市的年轻职员或高校毕业生正在逐渐回流。

Thousands returned to their hometowns complaining about the woes of living in big cities such as rising rents, fierce competition at work and the harsh environment.
但在小城市生活也存在许多弊端。根据腾讯微博于本月初进行的一项调查显示，大约有68%的参与者支持返回大城市这项决定。

But living in smaller cities also has drawbacks. According to a survey on Tencent micro blog website, t.qq.com, conducted early this month, about 68 percent of those asked support the decision to return to big cities.
据主流媒体分析，主要是以下挫折将这些年轻人重新推入大城市的怀抱：二、三线城市中，以权势为基础的紧密群体，娱乐活动的缺乏以及逐渐增高的生活费用。

Mainstream media has analyzed the major frustrations that push young people back: the powerful tight knit group of people, the lack of recreational activities as well as rising living costs in the second or third-tier cities.
而就业机会的缺乏依旧是关键劣势所在。中国社科院社会学研究所研究员张毅(音译)表示：“相比于一线大都市，二、三线城市因为城市规模有限，所以能够提供给年轻人的热门职位也较少。”

On Tencent’s micro blog website, the participants in the survey revealed that income in their hometown was low but living costs were still high.
“同时，一线大都市更加开放和包容，吸收精英人才的能力也更强。”

The lack of career opportunities remains a key downside. Zhang Yi, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: “Compared with metropolises, second and third-tier cities provide fewer attractive positions for young people because of their limited size.
文化的缺乏是另一个问题。比如，何玉璋说他的家乡的同辈人更倾向于将幸福与物质财富(比如房产)等同起来，而不太在乎一本新书或戏剧。

“At the same time, the metropolises are more open and tolerant, and have greater capability in absorbing talent.”
清华大学社会学教授孙立平(音译)表示，大城市的公众监督和激烈的市场竞争保证了更加透明和公平的社会体系。“你不能用幕后的商业手段。在大城市这样做的代价十分巨大。”他说。

The lack of culture is another issue. For instance, He Yuzhang says peers in his hometown are prone to equate happiness with material wealth such as housing, but care little about a new book or theater play.
而回归之路也是十分艰辛的。5月份进行的人口普查结果显示，北京市1960万人口中有700万是外地人口，占人口总数的35.9%，相比2000年18.9%的比重将近翻了一倍。

Sun Liping, a sociology professor in Tsinghua University says that public supervision and fierce market competition in the bigger cities ensure a more transparent and fair social system. “You cannot afford to use underhand business methods. The price is too high in big cities,” said Sun.
在广州，1270万的人口中有476万来自外地，比例达到37.5%，较2000年的33.3%呈上涨趋势。

But the road back is also tough. The demographic census results in May showed that about 7 million of 19.6 million people in Beijing come from outside, taking up 35.9 percent of the population, a jump from 18.9 percent in 2000.
可以肯定的是，前往大城市生活的人们今后将会面临更多的挑战，专家们已经指出，政府部门已开始试图通过更加严厉的车房限购措施来控制外来人口的增长。

In Guangzhou, the figure is 4.76 million of 12.7 million people. The proportion is 37.5 percent, increasing from 33.3 percent in 2000.
对于大城市，是去是留？这个问题并没有标准答案。“这需要考虑到你的能力、性格以及家庭因素。”孙教授说。

It is certain that people who move to the metropolis will face more challenges in the future, as experts point out that the government has tried to control population growth by introducing more stringent measures in apartment or car purchases.
他建议大学生们可以在大城市和自己家乡都申请一份实习工作来做。这样一来，他们便可以找到自己喜欢的生活方式：大城市的繁忙节奏，亦或是小城市的紧密团体。