Gen Z brings change to countryside

This summer, Become a Farmer, the hit farming reality show on iQiyi, wrapped up its latest season. The show follows the 10-member Gen Z team Shigeqintian as they take on the real-life challenges of managing their own farm.

In this season, the team traveled to rural areas across China, shifting their focus from personal growth to tackling the broader issues faced by farmers and the agricultural industry.

At the end of August, I found myself winding through the cliffside mountain roads of Guilin in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. As I navigated the route, I rewatched a scene from Become a Farmer Season 3: the Shigeqintian team moving turnips across snow-covered fields in Northwest China's Qinghai province, preparing to load the regional specialty onto trucks bound for distant markets.

As a student at China Agricultural University, I've had the opportunity to visit many remote villages for fieldwork. Across China's vast terrain, I've seen young people working the land, offering their energy and making a difference.

This sense of purpose became even more tangible this May, when I joined Shigeqintian to film an episode of Become a Farmer alongside team member Lu Zhuo. Together, we worked in a rice paddy, transplanting seedlings and experiencing firsthand the effort and dedication behind every harvest.

Lu shared the difficulties the team faced during their trip to Qinghai — severe altitude sickness, limited access to water and electricity, and suffering from heavy colds. What the audience didn't see on-screen was the immense hardship behind the scenes.

Yet, despite these obstacles, their primary goal remained unchanged: using their platform to turn short-term attention into lasting benefits for local farmers.

This commitment resonated deeply with me during my own field research in Guangxi, part of a program organized by Tencent's Sustainable Social Value division. The initiative invited university students to conduct research in rural areas, where I met young entrepreneurs who had returned to their hometowns after years in the city.

One of them was 32-year-old Liao Zhiteng, a local from Guangxi who returned in 2021 to found a cultural tourism company. Liao gathered local youth to help farmers sell specialty agricultural products, while also collaborating with universities and social organizations to unlock the village's cultural tourism potential. Together, they were united by a common goal: to "nourish the land".

With our preliminary research in Guangxi now complete, our group is designing cultural tour routes for the villages we studied. Though physically exhausted, we are filled with excitement and anticipation for what lies ahead.

I often recall Lu's words on the paddy field embankment, which continue to inspire me: "We young people must go deep into the tough, overlooked areas that need to be seen."

Written by Song Yuxuan, a 21-year-old student at China Agricultural University. Active in various school and community service projects, she has conducted in-depth research in rural areas across China. Her practical work focuses on empowering land use and contributing to rural revitalization.