China has over 2,000 county-level administrative divisions, covering 90% of the land area and half the population. Despite their size, county seats have historically had low consumer visibility, but in recent years, returning migrants from Beijing and Shanghai have not only seen their hometowns transformed but also marveled at the new lifestyles of countless 'small-town affluent women,' who are propping up county seat consumption. "When I was working in Beijing, I thought going home for the New Year was like a city person returning to the village, but I realized it was actually a country person entering the city," said a young man from Jiangxi who recently joked about being 'poor and laughed at.' Many returnees have found that old classmates now drive Li Auto cars, neighbor brothers run supermarkets over 1,000 square meters, and childhood friends have quit teaching jobs to open shops that are raking in money. In contrast, they themselves are still struggling with job changes, children's schooling, and housing moves. The 'counter-trend upgrade' in county seat consumption is not just about internet-famous milk tea, discount snack stores, and new-style bakeries that were once exclusive to first- and second-tier cities, now densely appearing on county streets. It's also about Boston lobsters, 4J cherries, and specialty products from Hema and Sam's Club appearing on dining tables, as well as music festivals and concerts everywhere. While first-tier cities may still not accommodate the body, county seats might now accommodate the soul. In addition to rural populations flooding into county seats, young people tired of the rat race in big cities are also seeing county seats as a final haven. The widespread coverage of high-speed rail and the popularity of private cars have smoothed transportation networks in county seats. As county populations grow, better goods and services emerge, and the keen-eyed are the first to invest, opening milk tea shops and cafes with long queues, with some making their first pot of gold. Undoubtedly, this is a trillion-yuan market about to explode. Some estimate that with over 2,000 county-level divisions, if you can open five stores in each county, you can build a brand with 10,000 stores. Apart from the few cases reported by media, like the snack discount store that 'sold 2 million yuan during the Spring Festival,' where are the opportunities for ordinary people? Can the myth of county seat entrepreneurship and wealth creation be replicated? Do county residents spend with more ease? As a native county resident, Yu Qi's biggest impression of the town is that it's always under construction. Growing up in a county under Yichang, Hubei, he's seen several expressways built in the past two years: one directly to Yichang city, one to an industrial town under the county, and a four-lane highway to neighboring Hunan Province. As the saying goes, 'To get rich, build roads first.' These roads have cut travel time from the county to surrounding towns and villages from half an hour to just over ten minutes. Then, the county's population increased significantly. People from both subordinate towns and remote villages are buying homes in the county seat. Some are small-town middle class, some are demolition compensation recipients, and others are for their children's education. The county government built several large shopping malls and relocated heavily polluting factories to nearby industrial towns, further creating a population siphon effect. Along with the influx of people came various brand stores, more ride-hailing cars, larger cinemas, and faster food delivery. New-style tea brands have become more densely present on county streets. ChaPanda and Guming each opened three stores, Shanghai Auntie opened two, and Bawang Chaji opened its first store with the opening of Wanda Plaza last year. In Yu Qi's impression, Wanda is usually at least in prefecture-level cities, so its opening in a county town surprised him. Before Wanda opened last year, many said it wouldn't last three days, but in the first week, there were long queues every day, and parking was insufficient. The local price level is not low; in the supermarket on the basement floor of the mall, strawberries sell for 35 yuan per jin, and Sunshine Rose grapes for 40 yuan per jin, and by 6 PM, they're almost sold out. Starbucks and Heytea, which opened simultaneously with Wanda Plaza, have a constant stream of customers. This is just a microcosm of consumption in many Chinese county seats; many people had similar experiences during the Spring Festival. The spending power of county residents exceeds the cognition of first-tier city workers. Black Ant Capital's research in county markets found that about 40% of county households have pre-tax annual incomes above 100,000 yuan, with a savings rate of about 38%; 13% have pre-tax annual incomes above 150,000 yuan, with a savings rate of about 42%. A Tsinghua University survey on county consumer markets shows that 70% of county residents own property, 58.5% own cars, and nearly 60% of homeowners have no mortgage. In other words, county residents have considerable disposable income for daily consumption. In the past, they didn't know what to consume, and no one provided good products. Now, brand stores have opened at their doorsteps, various leisure and entertainment services have developed, and consumption has upgraded accordingly. Beauty consumption is a very typical example. 'County affluent women' with money and leisure are particularly willing to spend on hairdressing, beauty treatments, manicures, and eyelash extensions. The Tsinghua report mentioned above shows that beauty projects are the highest spending category for female consumers in county areas. The beauty industry has a low chain rate, mostly scattered small shops. 'County affluent women' prefer to search, review, and order group coupons on online platforms. Meituan data shows that in the first three quarters of 2023, the average transaction value for beauty consumption in county areas was 117 yuan, with order volume increasing 77.2% year-on-year, higher than the national average. County residents' awareness and understanding of brands have also caught up. Xiao Yu works in Beijing and her hometown is a county in the north. Recently, when she went home, she saw a relative with Bao Shi Fu pastries and Sam's Club packaging bags, which shocked her. She later learned that the relative likes to 'follow trends' and bought them through a purchasing agent. She suddenly felt that the superiority of being from a first-tier city and having seen the world is no longer so obvious. In a sense, this is the 'consumption awakening' of county residents. The consumption boundary between small counties and big cities is dissolving. Multiple county youths told the author that they get information through short videos daily, are very sensitive to various 'internet-famous' products, and buy them through various channels. Their consumption methods are also fully aligned with big cities, such as instant retail and community e-commerce. Yu Qi invites three friends over to play mahjong every weekend. Sometimes they need to buy snacks, melon seeds, or drinks midway, and no one wants to go downstairs, so they decide by finger-guessing games. Now they're used to ordering on their phones, and the nearby supermarket delivers within half an hour. During the Spring Festival, Ai Jia needed to buy snacks and drinks for a family dinner, but it was inconvenient to go to the supermarket due to snow. She found that the supermarket had joined Meituan, so she ordered on Meituan and it arrived in less than an hour. 'Normal e-commerce would take at least a day to deliver, and you'd have to pick it up at the community station yourself. Drinks are heavy, so it's better to have Meituan deliver directly to your home.' 'In short, the popularity and service of instant retail in my hometown exceeded my expectations,' she summarized to Ding Jiao. What do county entrepreneurs do? More and more people are smelling entrepreneurial opportunities amid county consumption changes. Initially, it was categories like tea drinks, coffee, fast food, and snacks. After market research, related brands unanimously made county seats an important front for expansion, rapidly growing with capital support. For example, the snack collection store Zhao Yiming Snacks, which started as a small roasted goods shop, now has over 3,000 stores, most in county seats and townships. An investor said Zhao Yiming Snacks achieved nearly 3 billion yuan in revenue and over 70 million yuan in net profit in the first half of last year. Tea drinks and coffee are blooming everywhere. Hepu is a county under Beihai, Guangxi. About a year and a half ago, a new consumption trend emerged in the county: day coffee, night alcohol. People found that many locals started cafes, milk tea shops, and small bars. Chang Jiahui started his business then, founding the online bar brand 'Jiu Dian Zheng,' which has opened over 40 stores nationwide. County entrepreneurship has many advantages, the most direct being low costs—rent, personnel, delivery, and promotion costs are far lower than in first- and second-tier cities. Chang told the author that the annual rent for 'Jiu Dian Zheng' stores in Beijing and Hangzhou is 80,000 and 50,000 yuan respectively, while the Hepu store is only 10,000 yuan, but the average transaction value per customer is similar across these stores. This means that a county store only needs monthly revenue of 1,500 yuan to break even, while a first-tier city store might need around 7,000 yuan. The huge cost difference has led some to return from big cities to start businesses. Chang found that more and more people are returning to county seats to start businesses; half of those who consult him about franchising come from county seats. Pingtan County in Fujian Province was once an unknown small town, but became famous a few years ago for 'blue tears.' A local well-known fishing raft shop, Pingtan Dada Sea Leisure Fishing Raft, is the first leisure fishing raft in the area. The owner returned from Guangdong in 2018 to start a business. At that time, the island's roads were still under construction, and there were few tourists. The owner thought electric bicycles would be suitable for island tours, so he started renting electric bikes, then expanded to fishing rafts, homestays, and gradually grew the business. Now he receives over 100 visitors a day. Homestays and catering are popular entrepreneurial directions for many county residents, especially if there are local tourism resources, making it easy to start. According to Dianping POI data, in the first three quarters of 2023, the opening rate of catering stores in county areas was 19.5%, with the top five categories by new openings being snacks and fast food, drinks and desserts, barbecue, hotpot, and fruits and fresh produce. Also in Pingtan, the Lingshang Haidao Restaurant, which focuses on local specialties, became a local internet-famous restaurant within three years of opening. It's located on the route that tourists must pass. In recent years, as the 'blue tears' phenomenon became popular, Pingtan gradually attracted many out-of-town tourists, and the restaurant rose accordingly, with many tourists checking in. The apricot blossoms in Tashkurgan County, Xinjiang, attract tourists from all over the country, and many locals have started homestays. The Yunzhi Biduang Boutique Hotel in the county opened in 2021, when the owner seized the opportunity of the influx of out-of-town tourists, simultaneously listing on Meituan and using the online platform to attract customers. Last year, it was almost fully booked for a period. Online operations are an essential skill for county entrepreneurship. The Lingshang Haidao Restaurant launched on Dianping as soon as it opened. The owner said that out-of-town tourists not only care about taste but also about the environment; most search for reviews on Dianping first, then come to experience it. 'During the peak tourist season, consumers basically come from online.' As for Zhao Yiming Snacks mentioned earlier, when consumers first enter the store, staff guide them to register as members at checkout. After registration, there's a channel to join a group. Members earn 1 point for every 10 yuan spent, and 10 points can be redeemed for 1 yuan. This enhances user stickiness and increases repurchase. Chang Jiahui made online a breakthrough from the start, avoiding internal competition with traditional bars. He targeted young people aged 18 to 35. On New Year's Eve this year, a store in Beihai achieved 8,000 yuan in sales, all from online. Black Ant Capital's '2022 County Market Youth Consumption Trends Research' shows that county youth shop online 48% of the time, with e-commerce platform penetration at 90%, and emerging group buying, food delivery, and social e-commerce platforms also have 40%-50% penetration. Don't worry about delivery in county seats. Chang told the author that flash delivery, SF City, Dada, and Meituan are 'on call.' On the first day of the Lunar New Year this year, Ai Jia was in Hubei preparing to go to the airport when her suitcase zipper burst due to too much luggage. At a loss, she thought she could buy some packing straps online. The snow on the road hadn't melted, and her family thought no one would deliver on New Year's Day. But she ordered from an online supermarket on Meituan, and the rider delivered in over 20 minutes, solving her urgent problem. In addition to physical consumption, service consumption among county residents is also growing rapidly. Xiao Yu noticed new beauty shops in town that she had never seen before, offering services like manicures, eyelash extensions, and eyebrow tattooing. These shops are small, with simple and refined decor, and the owners are mostly women around thirty. Additionally, new business formats favored by young people, such as chess and card rooms, script murder games, and cat cafes, are appearing on county streets. Some local young people have become bartenders, some are learning pet photography, and others have become live-streaming trainers. Under the demand for consumption upgrades, the sinking and popularization of food delivery, community e-commerce, and short videos have also brought more entrepreneurial and employment opportunities to ordinary people. The myriad industries and life stories in county seats all converge in the business world. Where are the opportunities for ordinary people? For those who want to start a business in county seats, opportunities are not evenly distributed due to differences in resource endowments and interests. Some tracks are already highly competitive despite booming business, making them unsuitable for ordinary people to enter. Meituan's '2023 County Life Services Consumption Report' points out that when county per capita GDP approaches 60,000 yuan, it's recommended to prioritize meeting consumer needs in beauty, leisure and entertainment, fitness, ticketing services, and tourism; when county per capita GDP approaches 140,000 yuan, it's recommended to further develop fitness, beauty, residential services, and tourism. This shows that entrepreneurial opportunities vary by time, place, and person, and should be combined with local economic level, population structure, and business ecosystem. After years of expansion, especially with chain brands collectively sinking, opportunities in the tea and coffee market are almost exhausted. Chang Jiahui doesn't recommend young people open tea shops in county seats. First, equipment costs are too high, and when big brands sink, they also cut prices, making it impossible for independent milk tea shops to compete. Franchising big brands requires high capital, experience, and insight, and many brands even require capital verification, which is no longer something ordinary people can participate in. The situation is similar for coffee shops. Cotti and Luckin are engaged in fierce price wars, making it hard for ordinary coffee shops to compete on price. To make a specialty coffee shop, you need to invest heavily in renovation and equipment upfront, but limited customer flow and order volume can't sustain long-term operation. 'Opening a store is hard, but keeping it open is harder. If you can't break even, every day is torture,' Chang said. Compared to highly competitive industries like milk tea, his online bar has been moving forward steadily due to low initial investment and differentiated competition. Although the cost of starting a business in county seats is low, you must consider break-even from the start. It's best to choose tracks with low initial capital investment and stable cash flow to reduce trial-and-error costs. Wang Yi from a county in central Hubei opened a teahouse with friends at the end of last year. Although it's called a teahouse, the main purpose is not to drink tea but to play cards. The teahouse is open 24 hours, with customers in the morning, noon, and evening, especially after lunch. Wang told the author that locals particularly like playing cards, and the teahouse is like an upgraded chess and card room. Normally, a person spending on food and cards averages 150 yuan per person; if only playing cards, it's about 50 yuan per person. Customers are mainly three types: small business owners with some economic strength and time, sociable people who use the teahouse as a place to meet friends, and a small portion who previously liked playing cards outside. 'Customers are mostly acquaintances and regulars, with a few new faces. Currently, the teahouse breaks even.' Of course, competition is fierce. 'Now, every ten meters or so, there's a teahouse. The barrier to entry is low: set up tables, air conditioning, and decorate a bit, and you can open.' Fierce competition isn't the main issue; the key is to find a differentiated competitive advantage. 'The internet is too developed now. County residents have many channels to get information, so there's no such thing as a unique business only you know about,' said an investor focused on consumption. Differentiation comes from unique positioning, exclusive resources, and careful operation. Taking the coffee industry as an example, under intense competition, homogenization is severe. Pu'er, Yunnan, as China's largest coffee-growing region, has seen a surge of coffee bean merchants and coffee estates in recent years. Many locals started businesses, but projects are similar, except for 'Xiao Ao Zi Coffee Estate,' which is distinctive. The founder leveraged the local unique geographical environment and years of research on coffee bean cultivation to turn the estate into a base for coffee planting, tasting, experimentation, and teaching, even becoming an internet-famous attraction. The shop doesn't sell coffee; it sells tickets. 60 yuan per person, with unlimited coffee, staff introduce coffee knowledge on-site, explain coffee fruit planting and processing, and offer hands-on experience. 'I don't usually drink coffee, but I value the experience and learning; it's great science popularization,' said a user who flew from Beijing to experience it. Some small counties in Zhejiang have also developed various cafes according to local conditions, developing a 'village coffee' economy to avoid direct competition with chain coffee brands. Anji County, with a permanent population of less than 600,000, has over 300 coffee shops, attracting many people from outside to check in. These cafes have distinct characteristics, following the internet-famous route, mostly relying on online popularity, with flower rooms and outdoor lawns as common decorative elements. The Anji Cozy Coffee, which became popular last year, has nearly 600 reviews on Dianping, with the most common tag being 'suitable for photos.' For ordinary people starting businesses in county seats, if they don't have external financing and rely entirely on themselves, they need to explore more niche tracks and seize those opportunities within reach. For example, some delivery riders returning home have brought the big-city fruit cutting format to county seats; some big factory employees have opened light food shops in their poor hometowns; some people are doing live-streaming sales in county seats. Even opening a restaurant requires careful research. Meituan data shows that niche dining categories are also gaining favor among county residents; 46% of county residents prefer niche or never-visited restaurants when dining out, and orders for Middle Eastern and African cuisine grew rapidly last year. These underdeveloped, less competitive niche tracks are opportunities for ordinary people. County seats are a vast rising market. Although 'county affluent women' is somewhat teasing, some have indeed made money from county entrepreneurship. By seeing industry trends clearly and finding entry points, 'wealth creation' is not impossible to replicate.
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