TAIYUAN, May 12 (Xinhua) -- In the mountains of Zhongyang County, north China's Shanxi Province, 26-year-old Geng Peipei makes his way up the mountain to tend to his cattle. Spring has just turned the forest green, and his grazing cattle follow slowly behind. This short video has gained nearly 3 million views on Chinese social media.
As China advances urbanization alongside rural revitalization, more city dwellers are becoming curious about the countryside. At the same time, a growing number of educated young people with digital skills are turning rural entrepreneurship into an online phenomenon -- using short videos and e-commerce to bridge the gap between farm and consumer.
FROM PRICE-TAKERS TO BRAND-BUILDERS
Geng, now a popular video blogger with over 280,000 followers, did not receive parental support when he returned to his village to raise cattle. His parents, from an older generation of farmers, saw the work as hard and unrewarding. They ran a small family farm, waiting each year for cattle traders to show up with a take-it-or-leave-it offer. Income was passive and came from a single source.
Geng started by simply sharing his rural life online: shoveling feed for the cattle, visiting a huge market where dozens of traders gathered to buy and sell bulls, cows and calves. His videos attracted urban viewers curious about the countryside, as well as fellow farmers looking to buy cattle and feed.
"My followers gave me the confidence to start farming. I saw a new way of doing business," Geng said. "Using short videos to attract followers, and then connecting those followers to the market -- that gives traditional agriculture a new path forward."
The art major graduate began using short videos, livestreaming, and e-commerce platforms to build a business very different from his parents'. He sells beef to followers drawn to his rural-life videos, arranges live cattle deals with fellow farmers he met online, and has developed his own beef brand in partnership with a food-processing plant. He is even working with local research institutes on feed additives that help balance cattle gut bacteria.
Geng's story is far from unique. A growing number of young people are using short videos to build an audience and e-commerce to drive sales. Behind this trend lies a broader ecosystem that combines digital platforms, supportive policies, and accessible technical training.
SOUND ECOSYSTEM FOR RURAL STARTUPS
The generation born in the internet age sees short-video platforms not just as entertainment, but as a new way of doing business.
A report by ByteDance, owner of social media platform Douyin, showed that 1.36 billion rural-related videos were uploaded to the platform from September 2024 to September 2025. The number of agriculture and rural life creators with more than 10,000 followers has exceeded 95,000. The number of creators under 30 grew by 45 percent year on year.
"More than 130,000 village-based livestreamers are now active on Douyin," a company official said. The platform also cut costs for young entrepreneurs by waiving over 800 million yuan (about 116.85 million U.S. dollars) in fees through freight insurance subsidies and promotional rebates.
Agricultural technology in rural China has become increasingly accessible. Even young people with no farming experience can easily get technical help.
In Xichong County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, the local government has established a collaboration mechanism involving government, experts, academic institutions and enterprises. It has developed 37 customized training courses ranging from pest control to the construction of eco-friendly production cycles. The program has introduced innovative crop rotation models and integrated rice field aquaculture to protect soil fertility while boosting yields.
China's young people were born amid rapid economic growth and the one-child policy era. Some people assume that this generation might be more self-centered and less resilient. But the stories of many "new farmers" prove otherwise.
REVITALIZING RURAL AREA VIA LIVESTREAMING
Chen Yujia grew up in Shangguandi Village, located in the black soil region of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The area's rich volcanic soil produces high-quality rice -- pearly white grains with a soft, chewy texture. But for years, local farmers struggled to sell their good grain at fair prices.
Chen worked as a middle school teacher in an urban area, yet the hardships faced by her fellow villagers remained a constant concern for her. In 2016, she resigned from her post and returned to her hometown to launch a rural startup.
Starting from scratch, she learned everything the hard way -- planting seedlings, managing fields, and harvesting in autumn. Traveling across the country to trade fairs with a rice cooker and bags of rice, she picked up modern farm management along the journey. To expand recognition, she turned to the internet, shooting videos and livestreaming to promote local rice.
In her videos, Chen, now in her thirties, explained why this land with its volcanic rock and clean lake water produces such special rice. Gradually, her rice grew into a brand with a place, a story, and a rural identity.
She also launched a "field adoption" program: consumers pay for a plot of paddy field and receive the rice at harvest. During planting and harvest seasons, these customers can visit the village to experience farming, stay in local inns and enjoy farmhouse meals.
These efforts paid off. Chen's cooperative now has 157 member households and sells over 1.5 million kg of rice a year. In 2025, the village welcomed nearly 100,000 visitors, creating jobs for locals.
Now serving as the village Party secretary, she is next set to launch a training camp to share her experience with other young people. "The countryside is not just a place of nostalgia -- it's a place where you can build a career."
"China's rural talent pool is shifting away from a purely manual labor-focused structure toward a knowledge-empowered, multi-skilled development paradigm. The countryside is no longer just a place that supplies agricultural products, but a stage for new forms of consumption, social interaction and lifestyles," said Yao Ting, deputy director of the industrial economy research institute at the Shanxi Academy of Social Sciences.