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because my mother was ill, i stayed in my hometown for nearly a month. this was the longest time i have spent in my hometown since i started working.

as an economic researcher, i will certainly not waste this rare opportunity for field observation and research.

first of all, my hometown is now a young suburban district of a second-tier city. before the district was changed, it was ranked around 50th among the top 100 counties in china as a county-level city. now it has a permanent population of over 1 million. its economic scale used to rank third among the districts and counties of the city it belongs to a few years ago, but now it may be fifth or even lower.

the following experiences come from conversations with family and classmates as well as personal observations and experiences.

1. except for the rising prices of vegetables, other prices are falling.my hometown produces a lot of vegetables, which is not only self-sufficient but also can be supplied to other places. however, the prices of many vegetables increased significantly in august. of course, this is affected by the short-term seasonal change, but measured over the past few years, vegetable prices have shown a clear upward trend.

almost all other prices are falling, and housing prices are falling particularly sharply. i bought a house for my mother in one of the best communities in the county in mid-2020. at that time, the price per square meter had dropped from more than 10,000 yuan to around 8,000 yuan. now it has further dropped to around 6,000 yuan, which is nearly halved from the highest point. some communities with not-so-good locations have seen price cuts of more than 50%.

2. it is difficult to find a job and income has dropped significantly.some relatives and friends who work odd jobs have had difficulty finding jobs this year. before 2020, a strong laborer could easily find odd jobs with a daily wage of 280 yuan or even higher, but now it is difficult to find odd jobs with a daily wage of more than 200 yuan.

3. there is a big difference in pensions between public service retirement and corporate retirement.according to reports, a recently retired deputy-division-level civil servant received a monthly pension of more than 12,000 yuan, while the wife of a classmate who just retired as a corporate employee received a monthly pension of only more than 2,000 yuan. this difference in treatment made me fully understand why so many people in my hometown are keen on taking the civil service exam.

4. the number of newborns has dropped significantly, making it difficult for kindergartens to enroll students.in the past decade, young and middle-aged people in rural areas have rapidly concentrated in the county town. the registered population of my hometown town is more than 40,000. in the 1980s, each village had a primary school and four junior high schools. there were more than 10 classes in one grade, and each class had about 50 students. now there is only one primary school and one junior high school in the whole town. there are two classes in one grade, and the number of students in one class is less than 30. however, a well-known primary school in the county town has more than 20 classes in one grade, with 50 students in each class, and the entire primary school has more than 6,000 students. there are many primary schools in the county town, and the number of students enrolled is large. however, kindergartens have had difficulty enrolling students in the past two years. some private kindergartens have been closed due to insufficient enrollment, and the number of closures this fall has increased significantly compared to last year.

5. in the county, there are three good professions and high-income groups: civil servants, medical staff and teachers.in terms of number, teachers are the largest, followed by medical staff. the number of civil servants (including those who are paid by the government) should be less than the first two, but because they have power and the highest status, they are also the most coveted. in a month, i almost walked all over the county town, and schools and hospitals can be seen everywhere. our county has 3 public high schools, 5 or more junior high schools, and 10 elementary schools. in addition, there are about 10 universities (including private universities), with about 100,000 college students. even if only primary and secondary school teachers are considered, they are a large employment group in the county, and they are also a group with higher income and higher education. our county has two tertiary hospitals, a very distinctive and well-known tertiary specialized hospital within a 100-kilometer radius, a maternal and child hospital, a dental hospital, and two other lower-level hospitals (there may be other hospitals). i estimate that the medical staff of the seven hospitals combined should be no less than 3,000.

6. the fiscal deficit is large and current income is barely enough to pay salaries.in addition to the above five points, we also heard about fiscal difficulties. it is said that the total local debt is about 150 billion yuan, which is equivalent to the announced annual gdp. also, the annual fiscal revenue is about 5 billion yuan, but it is said that the monthly salary of county public officials is more than 300 million yuan. gdp is still growing, but tax revenue is decreasing. also, there is almost no income from land sales.

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author: zhao qingming｜photo visual china

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