Sick of the big smoke

Soaring housing prices, hukou difficulties and the stress, pressure and competition of Beijing have many young white-collar workers dreaming of a simpler life. Huang Yuli reports.

An increasing number of young white-collar Beijingers want to leave the capital for secondary cities or their hometowns.

In a survey conducted by sohu.com of nearly 60,000 netizens, 82 percent said they had a desire to "escape" China's mega-cities, citing high housing price, difficulty in getting hukou (permanent residency) in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and the stress, pressure and competition that can come with living in major cities.