China's youth unemployment crisis has millennials quitting the city for the country and the farming life—that their parents escaped

As the world's second-largest economy slows, young people are bearing the brunt of an unemployment crisis that's leaving one of five of them jobless. Rural China is now one place that is providing respite for young people. President Xi Jinping, who has for years exhorted young people to help "Revitalize the countryside," stepped up such calls in recent months, and Guangdong province unveiled a pilot plan in May to enroll 300,000 graduates in its rural regions by 2025. Some see Xi's rural campaign as more of a political move to mitigate the possiblility of youth resentment exploding into the open again, after last year's rare street protests against Covid lockdowns. Xi has recounted his seven years as a "Sent-down youth" in northern China with pride, writing in a 2002 essay that "By the time I left at the age of 22, I had a clear life goal and was filled with confidence." State media heavily promote his experience, and Xi has in recent years called on young people to serve the grassroots and "Eat bitterness," a common Chinese phrase meaning to endure hardship. Today's young people are not approaching their rural sojourns with Xi's youthful optimism. Ultimately, living in the countryside is a trade-off for many young Chinese - rural jobs pay much less but also provide stability and often other benefits such as free lodging and food.