Zhang Jialu. [Photo/China Daily]

"In Shanghai you can always find something you're interested in, but in small cities there is not so much on offer, and it can be hard to find a friend who shares the same hobby, such as going to the theater."

Hu Xiaowu, vice head of the Institute of Urban Science at Nanjing University, says that many of those who return to their hometowns or move to smaller cities find it difficult to become accustomed to their surroundings, including a rudimentary economic and industrial structure in which jobs in certain sectors are difficult to find.

Returnees may feel a sense of loss and even depression, he says, and some will end up returning to the big cities.

Zhu Di, an associate professor at the Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says there are young people who leave the competitive big cities to take what some people would regard as second best to work in second-tier cities.

However, "some second-tier cities in developed regions have good prospects and are rich in resources and the gap between them and the big cities is closing", she says.

She suggests that people pick up transferrable skills through school and work, ones that can be used in many situations.

"You can never take it for granted that you will have a secure lifetime job once you enter a State-owned enterprise or become a public servant. Young people in big cities have more crisis awareness and are more likely to improve themselves by learning new things."