Land of opportunity for farmer's daughter

In many ways, China's booming real estate industry itself embodies the nation's rapid change, says professor Zeng Xiangquan, head of the school of human resources at Renmin University of China in Beijing.

Real estate is one of the new and emerging industries that epitomizes the evolution of the Chinese economy, and the changing lot of workers, he says.

In the decades before 1980 - the year when the government opened China up to the world - land and property was owned by the state or by collectives.

Selling real estate was a profession that did not exist.

"The real estate industry didn't boom until the period of urbanization and commercialization," Zeng says.

By 2010, the same year Hu began working for Homelink, China's property market had reportedly become the biggest in the world.

Last year, real estate investment accounted for 15 percent of the nation's GDP, and the total value of new homes sold was 6.8 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion, 796 billion euros) according to China's National Bureau of Statistics.

Hu says she owes her own personal growth to her parents, who went against the grain in their conservative hometown and saved up enough to pay for part of their daughter's bachelor's degree in law at Hebei University of Economics and Business. A scholarship for academic excellence covered the rest of her tuition.

There is passion in her voice when she talks about gender equality, and her strong belief women can have a rewarding career as well as children.

"I think we have to encourage women to work hard and achieve their goals," she says.

Hu scored her job with Homelink through an online recruitment agency after following her boyfriend to Beijing, where he had taken a job teaching.

The couple are now married and rent an apartment together near her office.

Hu does about a 12-hour shift on any day the job requires.