Before graduating, Li Simin faced the choice of staying in Beijing where he studied for four years at Beihang University, or heading back to his home in the west.
Li is one of the 7.5 million graduates to pour forth from the gates of China's universities this summer. More than 70 percent of them, about 5.3 million, will join the battle to find a job. The remainder will go on to postgraduate study either at home or abroad, or join the swelling legions of hopeful entrepreneurs and set up their own businesses.
According to headhunting website zhaopin.com in its 2015 graduate employment report, of the job seekers, 33.9 percent want to land a job in the four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen -- home to the majority of leading tech, cultural and entertainment companies. If this number seems low, that is because it is, compared with last year when 48.4 percent of new graduates sought their fortunes in the big four. In 2013, more than 50 percent of them targeted these megacities, all with mega-hopes.
Li received offers from companies in both Beijing and Chengdu and finally opted for the latter, capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan.
"The Beijing company could not offer me a permanent residence permit. And the air pollution, and the traffic jams... my dominant memory of the place is the congestion," said Li.
Chengdu is close to his hometown, the traffic is better, the air is cleaner and the salary is almost the same as in Beijing, where housing costs are four times higher. Most importantly, he feels more valued by his company because he comes from a prestigious Beijing university, where "everyone knows" the best education is to be had. In Beijing itself, such an education is a commonplace.
TO FLEE OR NOT TO FLEE
The top cities seem to be losing their glamour and fast-rising second-tier cities like Chengdu, Dalian and Wuhan are offering graduates more employment possibilities and perhaps a better quality of life.
Ten years ago, almost all graduates of Tsinghua University, one of China's finest, remained in Beijing after graduation, but that number is now below 50 percent and is expected to fall even further this year.
A survey of 551,000 graduates in 109 universities showed the second-tier cities of Hangzhou, Kunming, Hefei and Chengdu to be the new favorite destinations.
Skyrocketing living costs, high pressure, pollution and traffic problems have dissuaded many from staying in the traditional powerhouses of graduate employment, according to sociologist Zhou Keda. More importantly, he says, graduates are not just being pushed away by the negatives, but are being pulled in by the positives.
Second-tier cities have been working hard to provide top-notch facilities in fields like education and medical care. A lot of help and support is available to new businesses and environmental concerns are often considerably less.
While preferential policies and salary breaks attract the intelligent and the ambitious, top cities are struggling to curb excessive population growth.
Beijing is completely enclosed by its two neighbors, Hebei Province and Tianjin Municipality. A coordinated development plan for the region means that industrial and human resources are moving out of the cramped and crowded capital and into the comparatively stress-free hinterland. The city has also been ordered to reduce the quota of new permanent residence permits, which naturally leads to fewer job opportunities.
The expansion of high-speed rail has greatly reduced journey times throughout the country, also contributing to the loss of admirers of first-tier cities.
"Previously we talked about 'fleeing' Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Now, it is more like a natural flow based on more uniform urban development," said Xiong Hanzhong, founder of the Beijing youth stress management center. He describes the trend as a "normal and rational" development.
