BEIJING — One of China’s most competitive jobs this season wasn’t in an urban high-rise. It was in its sprawling northern grasslands.

An April advertisement for a two-person job herding sheep — offering couples an above-average combined monthly salary of 16,000 yuan ($2,400) with free food, accommodation and Wi-Fi — quickly turned into a viral phenomenon, drawing millions of views and hundreds of applications from young people eager to escape the stresses of urban life.

On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, one hashtag related to the job ad gathered a staggering 59 million views.

“Dealing with sheep is easier than dealing with people!” a Weibo user wrote, while another said it was a “dream job because it can help me stay away from the pretentious people in the city and live a simple life.”

Zuo Xiaoyong, 45, the owner of the sheep farm in Inner Mongolia — a region in China with vast grasslands, harsh winters and deep herding traditions — said he was surprised to receive more than 1,000 applications in just 48 hours after the ad was published. About 10% were from people with university degrees.

“Most applicants are farmers, factory workers and recent graduates from major Chinese cities,” Zuo said in an interview.

The urban youth unemployment rate is 16.3% and there is fierce job competition as a record 12.7 million students graduate from Chinese universities this year.

According to job market analysis from Liepin, one of China’s leading recruitment platforms, the share of job postings for master’s degree holders dropped from 20.3% to 17.4% from 2024 to 2025. During the same period, the proportion of jobs aimed at vocational graduates rose from 8.5% to 11%.

Last year, a university in southern China launched a specialized barbecue school to train grilling experts for the booming night food economy, enrolling only 30 students from more than 4,000 applicants — an acceptance ratio that rivals those of some of China’s most elite university programs.

“There is a mismatch between skills, expectations and available opportunities,” said Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor of social science and public policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “Work is also becoming more difficult — long hours, low security.”

“When young people graduate and don’t have much to show for it, it’s very demoralizing,” he said, leading to “hopelessness and escapism.”

“If I can’t work in an office in Shenzhen or be a manager, then I’ll fantasize about moving to Inner Mongolia to become a shepherd,” Gietel-Basten said of young graduates’ mindset.

While shepherding may sound idyllic, the work isn’t easy, according to the company’s description of the role: herding, feeding and counting 3,000 sheep across nearly 50 square miles on horse or motorbike, with little human interaction.

Zuo said he was struck by one applicant in particular: a recent university graduate in his early 20s from southern China who insisted he could handle the job.

“I told him that if you work here, there are literally no people — let alone women. You won’t even be able to find a girlfriend,” he said.

But the young man seemed undeterred.

“He told me he wanted to find a job and make money first,” Zuo said. “I feel like nowadays young people are not eager to get married at all. Their mindset has changed a lot.”

Chinese marriage registrations have fallen as young people prioritize career development over marriage, dropping 6.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year to less than 1.7 million, according to official data released last month.

“For many young people in mainland China, marriage and childbearing are simply not on the horizon after graduation,” Gietel-Basten said. “They want to get started in life first, but life feels uncertain and risky.”

Despite the young man’s enthusiasm, Zuo turned him down, as he was worried he wouldn’t be able to endure the loneliness. In the end, Zuo hired a couple with shepherding experience, offering them a total annual salary of about 200,000 yuan ($30,000).

Zuo said two people could keep each other company and work efficiently as a team.

As Chinese social media excitement over the shepherding ad starts to fade, many people have come to realize the harsh reality behind what some had seen as a dream job.

“I don’t think I can count so many sheep correctly!” a Weibo user said.

“It is a very tiring job! It’s not a vacation after all, but actual hard work,” said another.

But for a generation of people who sometimes say they feel trapped in the relentless urban rat race, the lonely grasslands offer something the city can’t.

“There are no arguments or deception here, no complicated workplace relationships like in the big companies,” Zuo said. “Only cattle and sheep.”