China. Second-tier cities.
The bright side of China.
Eight great cities embody growth, optimism and the good life.
Nearly 12 million students will graduate from Chinese universities this month.
Where they go after that is increasingly difficult to predict.
For decades, graduates were drawn to the same four cities.
Beijing, the capital, Shanghai, a financial hub,
Shenzhen, a tech centre, and Guangzhou, an export powerhouse.
There were opportunities in these places.
Their economic heft exceeded that of other Chinese cities.
Their public services were better too.
And they were huge, with populations that now range from 13 million,
Shenzhen, to 26 million, Shanghai.
As a result, they were dubbed first-tier cities.
Chinese flocked to them.
Now, though, a large number of graduates are looking beyond the top tier.
In recent years, China's lesser-known cities have proved more magnetic.
These rising metropolises come from the ranks of the second tier.
There are 31 cities on this level, according to the government,
which sorts them based on criteria like population and income level.