Zhang Ming, a migrant worker from Xiongxian County, decided to make a change on March 31.

Before that, Zhang Ming worked in a central enterprise design institute, a job that his friends envied, working from nine to five with great benefits. But outside of work, he spent his spare time on things that seemed out of place to his elders - writing articles, editing videos, and filming travel documentaries.

When he finally couldn't hold back his inner thoughts and wanted to turn these hobbies into a new job, resistance emerged. In the eyes of some older Xiongxian people, if a family has a child working in a state-owned enterprise in Beijing, "it is considered to be on the so-called peak of life", and parents will feel particularly proud. Zhang Ming's parents are no exception. They clearly disagreed with Zhang Ming's resignation, even though their son talked about all the bad things about this job and even got angry.

So, after making the decision not to renew his contract on March 31, Zhang Ming suddenly felt a lot of pressure. As a "four-no person" with no house, no car, no wife, and no children, the first thing he had to face was the questioning of his parents when he returned home during the Qingming Festival.

But this time, his parents actually agreed with his choice. His father told him that he didn't need to work for the purpose of making money. But Zhang Ming knew that his parents' change came from the establishment of Xiongan New Area on April 1. "They think that the economy will definitely not be too bad in the future, and they don't need the little money I earn." In an instant, Zhang Ming felt that it was really great to pursue his dream without pressure!

In a report published by Xinhua News Agency on April 1, the establishment of Xiongan New Area was called a major historical strategic choice, a millennium plan and a national event. For the 1.1 million people in Xiongan New Area, including Zhang Ming, their fate will also change accordingly.

A big surprise on April Fool's Day

All signs show that the preliminary work for the establishment of Xiongan New Area has been prepared for a long time. Zhang Ming returned to Xiong County once in March this year. He found that the local area began to rectify polluting factories, many projects were suspended, real estate sales were suspended, and self-built houses, which were common every spring, were stopped. At that time, Zhang Ming felt that something might happen.

However, when Zhang Shengmin, a 48-year-old Xiongxian native, first saw the news about Xiongan New Area on the morning of April 1, he did not take it seriously because he had a lot of things to do. At around 6 p.m., a former colleague suddenly called Zhang Shengmin from Beijing and told him: "I'm going to Xiongxian tomorrow." At this time, Zhang Shengmin still didn't think about buying a house. He thought these colleagues were going to visit him during the Qingming Festival. It was not until he watched the news broadcast in the evening that he happily discovered that Xiongan New Area was here!

In Shijiazhuang, more than 200 kilometers away, Yang Bing, a young man from Rongcheng, had just returned from fitness and received a series of teasing from his colleagues. "My colleagues in the office all shouted: Wow! The billionaire is back. Many people joked that your family has so many plots of land and houses. Did you get rich all of a sudden?" Yang Bing said.

At that time, Yang Bing didn't feel much. However, as the attention paid to Xiongan New Area increased and related information was constantly displayed on WeChat Moments, Yang Bing began to realize that he should call his family to ask about the situation and whether he could buy a house there.

At the same time, people from all over China also set their sights on this new area, which is at the same level as the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Shanghai Pudong New Area, in order to find new business opportunities. At around 10 p.m., someone found Zhang Ming and wanted to buy his house directly. In other WeChat groups, Zhang Ming also found that some people went to Xiong County overnight to look at houses, and the Daguan Expressway out of Beijing began to be jammed.

"I was busy until 1 a.m. on the first day. They all asked me how to get to Xiong County from Beijing, when the earliest bus was, and whether it was convenient to take a taxi to Xiong County." Zhang Ming said. Even if he told his friends that Xiong County had already frozen the real estate market, it didn't work.

From April 1, Xiong County stopped all real estate transactions for first-hand and second-hand houses, closed sales offices and real estate agencies, and froze all house transfer procedures. Relevant departments in Rongcheng County and Anxin County also issued multiple statements, saying that they had stopped all real estate sales and warned out-of-town buyers of risks. These measures quickly cooled down the real estate market in the three counties.

Xiongan people who left their hometown to venture out

In more contexts, Xiongan and Beijing are not equal. Whether it is a student who has studied hard or a shrewd and capable businessman, leaving Xiongan to make a living in a big city is a natural choice.

Although both are from Xiongan, Zhang Ming and Wang Zhihui have completely different childhood memories. Zhang Ming, who lives in dry land, misses the dragon claw locust tree in the east of the courtyard where he can play hide-and-seek and the creeper that grows wildly in spring. Wang Zhihui, who grew up by the Baiyang Lake, liked to fish by the lake when he was a child. He could catch a lot by putting some steamed bread residue in a can.

But no matter how good life in his hometown is, the small county town obviously cannot accommodate the ambition of the young. When he was in junior high school, Zhang Ming and his friends made an agreement to go to Xiong County to see the world outside, "because there are really no opportunities in that county." Wang Zhihui also admitted that it was the idea of leaving Anxin to venture out that motivated her to enter university.

Now, Zhang Ming, a technician in a central enterprise, and Wang Zhihui, a senior executive in a private enterprise, have come to live in Beijing, more than 100 kilometers away from their hometown. There are many Xiong'an people working hard in this metropolis. A group of Xiongxian people from Zhanggang Township and Shuangtang Township recycle waste plastics and sell wires and cables in Beijing.

The Anxin people who grew up by the water know more about fish. They are generally active in Beijing's Sidaokou and Xinfadi aquatic wholesale markets. Deng Shuai, who runs an auto repair shop in Anxin County, once went to Beijing to visit friends and found that most of these fellow villagers rented in old communities or basements. Whether in winter or summer, they had to get up at three or four in the morning to sell fish in the market. "You can make money at home, but the market is relatively small. Beijing is a big city with a lot of room for development. If he works harder, he can build a house at home after making money." Deng Shuai said.

Earlier in the 1980s, in order to get out of agriculture and stop farming, the first choice of Xiongxian people was Beijing. Zhang Shengmin said that the young people from their village who went out to do business all lived in the Jiuxianqiao area, "It was all wasteland at that time." These Xiongxian people rode bicycles through the streets and alleys, selling some melon seeds, peanuts and fruits.

However, in Zhang Shengmin's impression, only a few of these people stayed in Beijing. For example, one of his classmates, "first sold vegetables in the Beijing vegetable market, then engaged in wholesale, and now has a foothold in the industry, flying back and forth every day." More Xiongxian people who have no education and no long-term considerations can only hold the idea of making some money to live, and finally returned to their hometown.

The new district has brought opportunities to the small town

As a native of Xiongxian who has been working outside for nearly 30 years, Zhang Shengmin is most concerned about what he can do in the future rather than real estate. "We are happy to hear that someone flew here to buy a house. The government's measures (to control housing prices) are too good. They are good for local people and even better for young people in the future."

Zhang Shengmin told reporters that he dropped out of school at the age of 14 and went to Beijing. He started selling mutton and later worked as a laborer on a construction site. "I was very happy to earn 4 yuan a day." In 2001, he worked as a contractor for a year. As a result, because he did not know how to manage, the people under him had internal conflicts and he did not get paid.

It was not until he joined the China Primary Health Care Foundation as a driver that Zhang Shengmin found the way. During that time, Zhang Shengmin worked as a team leader and also as a vice chairman of the trade union. After recruiting new employees, he would take them to Peking University and Tsinghua University to attend free courses, meet highly educated people, and change their thinking.

Zhang Shengmin thought about staying in Beijing, but because he couldn't afford a house, he returned to Xiong County in 2012. Influenced by his previous unit, he set his sights on the health field and opened a water purifier agency and a myopia treatment institution in the county, but he didn't make much money. This time, taking advantage of the opportunity of the new district, he came up with two more entrepreneurial ideas, one is catering, and the other is various intermediaries including nannies and recruitment.

More young people in Xiong'an saw business opportunities in the new district. An Zilong has been busy dealing things in Rongcheng recently, selling cars, license plates, and company business licenses. Due to the recent administrative division changes, license plates containing the word Rongcheng have also been sold at high prices. It turned out that An Zilong only spent 700 yuan to apply for a business license starting with Rongcheng, but now a relative wants to buy it for 20,000 yuan.

Zhang Ming, who resigned in order to switch to film and television, also had new ideas after carefully studying the development plan of Xiong'an New District. Zhang Ming told reporters that he now also wants to experience companies in artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, because these two types of work can be combined with the positioning of Xiongan New Area as a smart city.

For Yang Bing, who works for China National Nuclear Corporation, at this stage, he can only rely on forwarding articles "Looking for Zhang Yingsen" to satisfy his desire. This person was fabricated as the "most tragic person in 2017" who sold his hometown house to buy a commercial and residential property in Beijing before the establishment of Xiongan New Area, and immediately received a notice from the company to move into the new area. However, Yang Bing told reporters that if the group company chooses to move to Xiongan, he will definitely come back to build his hometown.

Xiongan is here, what should we do with the original factories?

The people of Xiongan, who gradually calmed down from the ecstasy of the establishment of the new area, began to pay attention to the series of changes they will face.

A document published on the Xiongxian government website stated that Xiongxian is the largest plastic packaging and printing base in northern China, with more than 50,000 employees in 2015. However, these major taxpayers and employment pillars of the local government have also brought serious environmental problems to the local area.

Wang Qiang, who does plastic business in Xiong County, told reporters that he usually brings waste plastics from Beijing and Tianjin, and then turns them into semi-finished products, and then sells them to companies in Xiong County that produce plastic particles. He thinks that after the establishment of Xiong County New District, these polluting companies will inevitably be shut down and the plastic industry will be relocated.

"For capable companies with tax records and so on, the government can allocate a piece of land for you to go (to the industrial park for production). But many plastic companies in Xiong County are in the form of family workshops, with a few rooms at home and two machines to do the work. (Such companies) will definitely be dead in the future." Wang Qiang said.

Rongcheng, which regards clothing as a pillar industry, is also not optimistic. The dyeing company in An Zilong's family belongs to the heavily polluting industry, and now it is almost unable to work. "In the worst year of our factory, we paid more than 3 million yuan in environmental protection fines alone. The boilers have to be replaced by coal to gas and coal to electricity, and the cost has also increased." An Zilong said.

Ji Yingjie, a teacher in Anxin County, is now worried about his younger brother who runs a factory: "My younger brother is 37 years old and is used to working in metal and nonferrous metals. If you ask him to do something else, he can't start all over again like the younger ones."

In addition to these industrial relocation issues that need to be solved by the government, Xiong'an people are particularly concerned about the issue of resettlement and relocation. Many residents expressed the hope that the country can issue a more specific implementation plan for Xiong'an New Area as soon as possible.

But in Ji Yingjie's view, whether Anxin is changed to a new area or not, it doesn't make much difference to him - his child is 13 years old this year and should not wait until the university moves into the new area; medical care will be better, so he won't have to go to Beijing for medical treatment in the future; Baiyangdian will be more beautiful, but he won't be able to play there so casually.

Before his hometown becomes a crowded big city, Ji Yingjie just wants to plant flowers in his own small garden, feed birds, and enjoy the last time in the small city. "If someone gives me 6 million yuan (to buy this house), I won't sell it," he said.

(At the request of the interviewees, Zhang Shengmin and An Zilong are pseudonyms)

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