A little Utopia of their own

Job opportunities, high living standards prompt huaxi villagers to choose home over outside world

Even as many Chinese millionaires are scouting for investment and immigration opportunities overseas, many like Zhao Yougao are returning to their village in Huaxi.

"Life in Huaxi is as comfortable as living overseas, if not better," Zhao says. "Many of those who have returned from abroad have also brought their spouses to settle in the village."

Zhao, 38, went to Japan to study in 1996 and returned after three years. He is now the deputy general manager of Long Wish hotel, the newly opened five-star hotel in the village, and spent the previous 10 years working in the local steel company.

Rarely does Zhao venture outside the village, like most other residents of Huaxi, except during the holiday seasons when he drives two hours to nearby cities for shopping.

Part of the reason why he does not travel is because most of his needs are taken care of in Huaxi.

It has a small hospital, staffed by doctors brought in from Shanghai, that offers free medical check-ups for villagers. The expenses are covered by various insurance policies provided by the government and the village.

Every year every family in the village is given at least one free trip in China or overseas. Each family can take some time off and the travel opportunities are awarded on a rotational basis.

Zhao says that he has been to Hong Kong, Macao, Japan and Southeast Asia several times.

Even shopping for food items is barely necessary in Huaxi. Cooking oil, flour and other daily necessities are distributed regularly to every family free of charge.

Between 1990 and 2003, the village distributed several hundred cars with huge subsidies to villagers, mostly Volkswagen Jettas and Chevrolet Sails.

That scheme was eventually stopped because villagers preferred to buy cars according to their own tastes, Zhao says.

On the spacious streets built by the village, Audis, Mercedes-Benz and other high-end cars are constantly seen.

As an indigenous Huaxi villager, Zhao has witnessed the fundamental change of this place.

He lives in a 500-square-meter double-story house with a garage, but recalls how crowded and uncomfortable his living conditions were 30 years ago when his family had to share a small apartment.

"At that time there were no cars, no industries, and even not enough land for the villagers to grow grain."

The average income for a villager was just 2,000 yuan ($315, 230 euros) a year.

"All of that changed in the late 1980s after the first factories were set up by the former village chief Wu Renbao," Zhao says.

"These were the very first factories opened in villages in China, and I have to say Wu had great courage and foresight to do that."

After a few years, Wu decided to improve villagers' living standards by using the money earned from steel and textiles factories. In the early 1990s, nearly 100 villas were completed and distributed to villagers.

Wu's definition of happiness consists of having four things: A house, a car, money and dignity. So material necessities are "indispensable" to villagers.

Wu's standard of prosperity is also simple and easy to measure: Carpet upstairs, wooden floor downstairs, continuous water supply and no umbrellas on rainy days as the corridors built in front of the porch of every household connect the major locations in the village.

Zhao describes life in Huaxi as "very fulfilled". Besides a monthly salary, Zhao, as well as other villagers, gets yearly bonuses and end-of-the-year dividends from Huaxi Group.

"Although we don't have much in terms of monthly salary, which is at most 2,000 yuan in the village, the bonuses and dividends are more than enough to support a decent life," he says.

Zhu Xiaomei, a colleague, agrees and adds that she feels very happy living in such an environment.

Married to her college classmate from Huaxi, Zhu moved to this village in 2007. Like many women here, she had children early since she did not have any financial pressure to raise the child.

From kindergarten to high school, the village takes care of children's education and medical care.

"Your income will get higher and higher year by year so long as you do your job," she says. "There is no big pressure like in other places."

"Since the fortune is distributed fairly, there are no really rich or poor people," she says.

Hardly has any Huaxi woman married and moved to other places in recent years, Zhao says.

"Women in nearby places want to find a husband in Huaxi village, while indigenous women want their beloved ones to join the village, where they will have villas and other welfare once they get married."

With the prices of apartments skyrocketing across the country, a free villa is indeed a great attraction, Zhao says.

After absorbing new families and talent through the "high-end talent recruiting program", the original village has grown from 1,500 residents in the 1990s to more than 2,000 now.

Zhao recalls that in 1996, when he got the opportunity to study tourism management in Japan, there were only seven to eight college students in the village out of the 1,500 residents.

"But now most of the younger generation have at least one bachelor's degree."

When Zhao returned home after three years' of studies, he was assigned to work in the Huaxi steel company that used to export most of its products to Japan.

Like other villagers, Zhao's day starts at 7:30 am. After having his free breakfast in the public dining hall at 8:00 am, he goes to work until 4:30 pm, with a free lunch and a one-hour nap at noon.

"We don't really have the concept of weekends," Zhao says. "Basically everybody is on call on Saturday and Sunday, because on weekdays we don't have any pressure from the boss or any evaluation system."

The 70 plants in the town provide working opportunities for the 2,000 local residents as well as for more than 20,000 immigrant workers from across the country.