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Abstract
In contemporary China, young people face mounting pressures from rapid urbanization, credential inflation, rising living costs, and intense labor market competition. In response to the limitations of urban life, a growing minority of young urbanites are seeking alternatives by relocating to rural areas—a phenomenon now closely watched in the context of China’s rural revitalization agenda. This study moves beyond push-pull explanations and the prevalent rural revitalization discourses to examine the everyday realities, tensions, challenges, and transformations experienced by young urban-to-rural migrants. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews with twelve urban youth who left diverse careers to settle in Hejia Village, Fujian Province, complemented by interviews with local villagers and young urban-to-rural migrants in neighboring villages, the research explores processes of adaptation, disillusionment, and transformation. Through thick description, the study reveals how young migrants confront the gap between their idealized visions of rural life and the complex realities they face: unstable income, limited infrastructure, ambiguous social positioning, and the fragmentation of both migrant and local communities. Rather than recounting a conventional success story of urbanites “making it” in the rural, this study shows that the journeys of young migrants in Hejia Village are characterized by pervasive disillusionment and ongoing negotiation. Only a few migrants earn more than they did in the cities, and many find that economic success comes at the cost of sacrificing their ideals. For most, disillusionment marks not an endpoint, but a turning point - prompting more pragmatic, sustainable strategies and experimentation with alternative models of rural living. Hejia Village emerges as a site of ongoing social experimentation, where the pursuit of autonomy, community, and meaning continuously collides with rural reality. Ultimately, the study argues that for most urban youth, rural migration is not a final destination but an open-ended journey—one that reveals both new possibilities and inherent limitations for youth mobility and rural revitalization in China. By focusing on the nuanced experiences of ordinary young people, this research sheds light on the everyday dilemmas and aspirations of a generation searching for alternatives beyond the conventional urban success framework.