Far from the madding crowd in Shanghai

Shang Ying rides her tricycle to her farm everyday. Her father bought the vehicle as a gift. [Photo/China Daily]

As such, more city slickers openly discuss the pressure they feel these days. More complain about their busy jobs, cut-throat competition and the high cost of buying an apartment.

A survey conducted by local consulting company Horizon found that about one-third of urban residents were willing to try life as a farmer, at least on a part-time basis, in order to enjoy benefits such as fresh food and fresh air.

The survey said that most of them would ideally spend one month a year living and working in the countryside.

China's rural population accounts for about 46 percent of the total amid one of the fastest urbanization drives in history. Yet farmers are still looked down upon in this country that for centuries worshipped intellectuals but now mythologizes entrepreneurs and lionizes business moguls.

Statistics show that rural residents earned an average annual income of 10,489 yuan ($1,690) last year, compared to 28,844 yuan for those living in cities.

Those who have rejected the materialism of the city for greener pastures say there is more to life than money.

"I think the criteria for success is different in the city than in the countryside," Shang Ying said. She closed her travel agency in downtown Shanghai in 2010 and moved to Chongming's Pannan village to start Xi Yuan (Happy Wish), her eco-friendly farm.

"When I was doing my travel business, money was the only reward for all my hard work," said Shang, who has a two-year-old son. "Now I get money－less money, but still it's OK－and I can enjoy my freedom, too.

"When you give up some material needs, you will be rewarded in other ways," she added.

The 39-year-old said she hasn't gone clothes shopping in more than a year as her spending habits, interests and lifestyle have all changed.

"Rural life has made me more tolerant about imperfections," she said.

Big cities like Shanghai and Beijing have seen more young people make similar choices.

Chang Tianle, a Shanghai woman who organizes a regular farmer's market in Shanghai and Beijing, said that most farmers she knows have migrated over from other businesses.

"Apart from their attention to food safety, most of them were tired of city life and wanted a more natural life where they felt more in control," she said.

Not that it is easy for a typical Shanghai woman to ditch her fashionable threads and get accustomed to country ways.