When 25-year-old Yang Qiangyou, a migrant worker, was laid off from a factory in Shanghai two months ago in the wake of the deepening recession, he had no idea what his next move should be.

Unable to find work, Yang returned to his hometown, a remote village of the Chongqing. It was a move he does not regret one bit.

A stone's throw away from his village home, Yang found work on a piece of land as a tobacco grower, a far better paying job than that of a factory worker.