Foreigners shun bright city lights for rural charms

Xiamen via Milan

In 2024, the National Immigration Administration issued a total of 2.597 million visas and permits to foreign nationals, representing a 52.3 percent year-on-year increase.

Among those working visitors is Carolina Di Condio, 28, from Milan in Italy who was born to an Italian father and Russian mother. Growing up in a multicultural household sparked an early fascination with foreign languages, she said.

Working as a wholesale specialist in the fashion industry, Di Condio managed the Asian market for her company and began learning Mandarin. Over time, her trips to China became more frequent with visits to Beijing, Chengdu, and Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

It was during a three-month language course in Milan that she met a young man from Xiamen, Fujian province. Years later, they married and moved to Xiamen.

"I still remember the first time he brought me to Xiamen in 2019. It was love at first sight. There was something about the city — the ocean breeze, the tree-lined streets, the balance of nature and modernity — that just spoke to me," she said. At the moment, Di Condio splits her time between Milan and Xiamen, alongside her husband and their cat.

She says Xiamen embodies the Swedish concept of lagom — not too little, not too much. "I take long walks in the evening, something I could never do safely in Italy. It's in those quiet moments that I realize how much my definition of 'home' has changed," she said.

But what truly makes her feel at home in Xiamen isn't just the food or the language but the relationships she's formed.

"People here are kind. I've made friends who feel like family. My in-laws include me in Lunar New Year celebrations, and shopkeepers remember my favorite fruits. These small gestures make me feel truly part of the community," she said.

According to data released by the National Immigration Administration in 2024, a total of 711,000 residence permits were issued to foreign nationals residing in China in 2023, indicating that the number of foreigners living in China has recovered to 85 percent of the pre-pandemic level at the end of 2019.

Yu Hai, a sociology professor at Fudan University said China's opening-up began with major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, Guangdong province, which naturally attracted the largest number of foreigners. Back then, foreigners visiting small towns across China were mostly travelers passing through.

"Choosing to settle down and build a life in a small town, however, may be the newest chapter in the story of foreigners in China," Yu said.

"For foreigners who are passionate about Chinese culture and see it as their mission to integrate into Chinese communities, often through cultural exchanges, it is a natural process. The country has become not only a livable destination but also one that is increasingly friendly to diversity."