China’s post 90s and 00s generation are burnt out, mentally and emotionally drained, and apparently are not getting enough sunlight. While grinding in the city seems to have led to a law of diminishing returns -- typically referred to as ‘involution’ -- many young hopefuls are still seeking opportunity elsewhere. In this episode I explore the phenonmenon of the ‘rural reset’, the idea that one can up sticks and move down to a beautiful rural idyll and live out the dream life running a coffee shop and farming a small veg patch.

But is taking your urban ways of life and grindset mentality down to the countryside the true path to happiness? Is a bucolic setting all one really needs to reinvent the self? Is it really possible to outrun admin? We discuss all this and more as we try to determine whether or not this is a sustainable, long-term vision that can be supported by the government, or another flash in the pan fad for the downtrodden laobaixing to cling to while they can.

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