White collars throw in the towel
2011-05-20
Many (white-collar) professionals are burning out in big cities and moving back home to second-tier cities where the grass is (greener )and the prospects seem brighter.
Cheng Ding is keen to end his "seven-year itch" against the city of Beijing once and for all - by retreating back home to Sichuan Province.
Following a failed (investment) that led to the closure of his own company in Zhongguancun, known as "China`s Silicon Valley," the 32-year-old mobile phone games producer had to relinquish his dream of building a (game empire) based in the Chinese capital city. For Cheng, the incentive to return home, nearly 2,000 kilometers southeast to Beijing, is more than just financial.
"Career (setbacks) are one thing. More important, I`m longing for another kind of life - one with no rush, no rent, no pressure," he says. "Beijing is no longer the home of my dreams."
