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Urban exodus and the renaissance of ‘beautiful villages’

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Published: October 20th, 2022,
Last updated: May 28th, 2025

Back to the roots: Author Shen Lan performs a nature ritual at her new home in the countryside.
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„This is heaven on earth,“ says Zhang Jinglei about her new home. The filmmaker spent ten years in China’s capital Beijing. Ten months ago, she packed her bags and moved to Caicun, a suburb of the city of Dali in the province of Yunnan, about 2,000 kilometers away. In just a few days, the 32-year-old found a two-room apartment for 1,000 yuan in the Bai-minority village. In Beijing, she paid well over three times that amount – for a room in a shared apartment.

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