City worker turned farmer drives rural revival in S China's Guangzhou

Shen Yanfen, a former project manager in south China's Guangdong Province, has traded her office cubicle for the open fields of her hometown, building a new life in agriculture.

Once a white-collar worker, Shen now drives tractors and other agricultural machinery, manages farmland and leads an agricultural machinery cooperative. In doing so, she has shattered stereotypes about gender, age and career paths for college graduates.

Shen Yanfen, head of an agricultural machinery cooperative in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Photo courtesy of Shen Yanfen)

Born in 1991 in Shihu village, Zengcheng district, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, Shen is the eldest daughter in her family.

After graduating from university, she took a job at a company in Shenzhen, Guangdong, where she was responsible for project management.

In 2018, her father, a pioneer in local mechanized farming services, asked her to return home and take over his agricultural machinery cooperative.

Having worked hard to build a career in Shenzhen, Shen was reluctant to return home.

Her father then turned to her younger siblings, and they returned to their hometown at his urging.

The following year, seeing her father worn down by exhaustion during the busy farming season, Shen reconsidered.

Motivated by both filial duty and China's national push for rural revitalization, Shen decided to return home and apply her professional skills to agriculture.

In 2020, Shen quit her job in Shenzhen and took over her father's cooperative.

However, her new role quickly faced skepticism. Villagers doubted a young woman could operate agricultural machinery or help bring in a good harvest.

Undeterred, she trained alongside her father, learning to operate agricultural machinery of all kinds.

The effort paid off. After more than six months, Shen had mastered medium- and large-scale equipment and earned the trust of villagers as the fields she cultivated produced strong yields.

Her reputation grew further as she and her sister delivered mechanized farming services to more farms. Villagers who were initially surprised to see two young women handling heavy machinery soon praised their skills.

Later, Shen spearheaded the establishment of Guangzhou's first agricultural machinery cooperative union, providing mechanized farming services for more than 100,000 mu (about 6,667 hectares) of farmland annually.

Shen Yanfen (right), head of an agricultural machinery cooperative in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, poses for a photo with her team members. (Photo courtesy of Shen Yanfen)

Under Shen's leadership, her team revitalized vast tracts of idle farmland, helping villagers increase their income by more than 1 million yuan (about $144,700).

During peak season, Shen lives and works at her cooperative. Her idea of relaxation is driving machinery in the fields, yet she remains energized and ambitious.

"Every morning, I leap out of bed as soon as I wake up. What wakes me up is not an alarm, but my dream," Shen said.

Shen frequently shares her work online and has gradually attracted widespread attention, inspiring many netizens to take up farming in rural areas. Some even joined her cooperative to be apprentices.

A comment she posted under a video of herself learning to operate agricultural machinery garnered many likes: "Girls who drive tractors can be cool too."

As a result of her contribution to rural revitalization, Shen was elected a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

She has put forward multiple suggestions covering support for highly educated "new farmers," professional agricultural cooperatives, agricultural technology development and policy support for electricity supply to agricultural facilities.

She hopes more "new farmers" will return to rural areas and put down roots.

"People often say the world outside is full of poetry and distant horizons," Shen said. "Here in my hometown, there is poetry and distant horizons as well."