In my dream economy, life in smaller cities rocks

Selling one's apartment in a big city and embracing the quiet small-town life was once a romantic dream of many Chinese who were fed up with the choking smog, endless traffic jams, and the stressful, expensive metropolitan lifestyle.

But a friend of mine, who was once an escapee of the big-city life, moved back to Beijing recently. She told me that there was no romance at all in living in smaller cities, at least for her.

Two years ago, she was lured to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in southwest China, by its clean air, the pleasant year-round mild climate, the local ethnic culture, the laid-back lifestyle and much lower living cost.