Story of woman who quit more than 600 work-related social media groups goes viral

The story of a woman who left a high-stress job to find solace and relaxation in her ancestral village has become a hot topic on the Chinese internet.

Tang Ying made headlines on Sunday because she left more than 600 work-related groups on the WeChat social media platform after quitting her job. The process took three and a half hours to complete.

The topic has attracted more than 160 million views on the Sina Weibo micro-blogging platform, and Tang told thecover.cn, a media outlet based in Sichuan province, that many users had expressed their sympathy.

Top comments include: "What kind of resignation is this? This is clearly buying back her freedom," and "Who doesn't have dozens of work WeChat groups — in name of various tasks."

Tang, a designer who had been working for a real estate company in Beijing, said the demanding nature of her job had left her discontented.

The cover.cn reported that despite earning a monthly salary of around 20,000 ($2,787) to 30,000 yuan, she struggled to find motivation in her work. Tang was responsible for overseeing the interior design of several commercial properties, and the pressure of managing multiple shopping malls took a toll on her health and well-being.

Constantly bombarded with notifications from work-related WeChat groups, Tang said she felt like a robot, unable to have her own thoughts and feelings.

"I dared not turn off the phone because I couldn't afford to ignore the group messages, fearing that missing important information could affect the opening of a new store," she was quoted as saying.

When a new store opened, a WeChat group was created, typically including mall staff members, property management and fire protection personnel, air conditioning technicians, shop owners and decoration workers.

Feeling exhausted and burned out, Tang decided to quit her job and returned to her hometown in Sichuan. She said her grandparents welcomed her with open arms, and she enjoyed the simple pleasures of home-cooked meals made from fresh ingredients.

Embracing life in a village 30 kilometers from the city of Nanchong, Tang decided to start a business selling homemade sausages and cured meat online.

With family support, she set up a small processing facility in her grandparents' backyard. Her father built a smokehouse, using wood from local cedar trees, and she aims to create a brand for her cured meat products.