A farmer in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, rides a motorcyle to market carrying his vegetables in early morning as the fast-developing city of high-rise buildings waking up to a new day. Photo: Screenshot of a video posted by Pear Video

The memoirs of a farmer who has lived in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, for over 40 years have been widely discussed on social media recently. After the farm where he worked was closed in around 2000, he had a chance to get a job, buy a house and settle down in Shenzhen. To his regret, he chose not to. 

"At the time, I felt that farming was something I had always done and was relatively free, so I went on to grow vegetables again. At that time, I lent all my savings to a friend to build a house. He spent 200,000 yuan ($30,954) to build the house back then, and now the house is worth more than 10 million  yuan ($1,547,700)," Ye told local media. "But I missed the chance."

The Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in South China's Guangdong Province was established in 1990. Over three decades, it has seen many people go from being penniless to wealthy. A few farmers in Shenzhen, however, missed the chance to board the express train to financial independence.

"The city is moving on too fast, and I am like a bird falling behind," Ye said, in a tone of despondency.