Blog: Rural Living Offers No Escape From Frantic Urban Work Culture

Standing in socks and overcoat, Hu Siqin knocked at her neighbor’s door and asked to buy some potato seeds. The look she got reminded her she was most definitely still an outsider.

As the megacities of China grew louder and more frantic, Hu headed in the opposite direction. Joining peers who attempted to make a life for themselves in China’s villages, she discovered that the idyllic haven she sought was an urban fiction.