'New peasants' return home to relax, prosper in villages

Liang Yu takes photos of vegetables produced on her farm in suburban Shanghai. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In the bustling heart of Shanghai, where life pulsates under towering skyscrapers and neon streetlights, 24-year-old Liang Yu once worked as a full-time model.

After graduating from college with a major in broadcast television, she had planned to work in the film industry or advertising. However, today she unexpectedly finds herself toiling on a farm and not missing the glamour of her previous life.

Along with her boyfriend, Wang Kairui, who is four years older than her, Liang runs a 0.3 hectare farm in suburban Shanghai. Their farm, New Field, grows a variety of produce including tomatoes, pumpkins and chilies.

"I never considered working on a farm and I knew nothing about farming," said Liang, who was born and raised in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and came to Shanghai to study at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts.

"The first time I ate a tomato that I had planted myself, I was amazed. It tasted sweeter than anything available in the stores. I was very excited," she recalled.

Like many young people, Liang used to live a hectic life with her boyfriend, who worked as a photographer. Their mornings were a blur of coffee shots and commuter trains, and their evenings a whirlwind of networking events. They often stayed up late at night finishing work projects.

The turning point came in 2022 when they were confined at home during the COVID-19 epidemic and decided to grow tomatoes in their yard.

"We lived with three roommates and we all felt bored and frustrated back then. We started experimenting with planting tomato seeds in our small yard as a way to kill time," said Liang.

"None of us had any knowledge about growing tomatoes and my boyfriend started educating himself by reading instructions online. He would get up early in the morning to observe the tomatoes. We spent much of our time in the small yard.

"I can still recall vividly when we harvested our first tomato, we divided it into five parts for each of us. It was so fresh and natural," said Liang.

She said something stirred in the couple — a longing for authenticity, a connection to nature, and a desire for a simpler way of life.

Liang and Wang made a decision that would surprise their families and friends, and invested their savings in the farm. She still works part time as model and photographer to support the farm operations.

The duo spend a lot of time in the village managing the farm. They have gained more knowledge about seeds, learned about new farming technology and picked the farmers' brains for ideas.

"There are over 10,000 tomato varieties. We've experimented with about 400. Now, 90 percent of our daily food is grown by ourselves," Liang said.

Wang said: "Observing and witnessing the growth of vegetables brings us a sense of achievement, which we could not get from our other jobs. Farming has taught us to slow down and expand our knowledge in areas such as farming technology, business management, and marketing. It's a process that is very inspiring."