"After four years, I realized Beijing was not the suitable place for me," says Zhao Xuan, a 33-year-old housewife living in Yanjiao, a town dubbed "city of beds" in Hebei province, which is 30 km from the Chinese capital.

Zhao Xuan [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhao, once ambitious and aspiring to the fast-pace life, quit her job in Shijiazhuang city and landed a new one in Xidan, one of the commercial districts in Beijing in 2010.

Because of the sky-rocketing housing prices in the capital, Zhao and her husband bought an apartment in Yanjiao. Their new residence cost 4,000 yuan ($645) per square meter, much lower than the then average 20,000 yuan price in Beijing.

Zhao's husband traveled a lot between Hebei and Beijing to do business. Since the couple were both busy, they sent their three-year-old daughter to her grandparents in Baoding, another city in Hebei province.

"I was so excited about my new life, thinking my dream was coming true," says Zhao recalling the beginning of her work, "When I watched the crowds of people on the subway, I could not see the struggle behind their faces."

Clearly, life didn't turn out to be what Zhao had expected it to be.

Every day, it took Zhao two hours to go to work. If she drove, she had to transfer to subway on the fifth ring road because her car with a Hebei license was not allowed to enter the capital. If she took a bus, she had to wait 30 minutes to get on it and spend another one and a half hour on the road.

"There was traffic jam almost every day. Sometimes, I really wanted to throw my car on the road when I drove to work", she says.

"Waiting for half an hour for the bus was not a problem, if I could finally get on it," says Zhao. "The bus was often too crowded when it arrived at my stop."

The population of Yanjiao reached 450,000 in 2011, according to official data. The high housing price and purchase restrictions in Beijing had forced many to live in this small town.

It was almost 8 pm after Zhao arrived home from work. "All I had time for was to have dinner and then go to sleep," she says.

Zhao's life was typical of the inter-city commuters. Yanjiao was therefore dubbed "city of beds".

The unpleasant commuting experience everyday and the ennui from job after working for some time made Zhao rethink about her life: Is this really what I want?

"People working in Beijing bear huge pressure. One has to struggle to make a living," she says. "I felt tired and began to miss my daughter."

In 2013, Zhao picked up her daughter from her hometown. She spent 15,000 yuan on fees to send her to a local primary school said to have high-quality teachers. There are more than 80 students in her daughter's class and the teacher has to use loudspeaker.

Zhao was very protective of her daughter. She didn't even allow her to go to a nearby shop in their community alone. "Several children have been hit by cars in my community," she says. "There are just too many cars."

In 2014, Zhao quit her job in Beijing and decided to stay at home as a housewife. "After four years, my thoughts have changed. I don't really like competitive life in Beijing and want to spare more time with my kid as she grows up," she says.

Zhao currently has no plan to work again, but she still pays social security in Beijing. The city only allows people with no hukou, or household registration, to buy a house when they have paid for social security for five years.

"Anyway, Beijing has the best resources, which was also one of the reasons I went to work there in 2010," she says. "I won't intervene in my daughter's decisions when she grows up, but I want to provide more options for her before that."

Though Zhao is enjoying her current life with her kid every day, she complains a lot about the infrastructure in Yanjiao.

"During rainy days, traffic lights often break down and the streets are severely waterlogged," she says.

"There are dozens of buildings in my community, but I can hardly find fitness equipment."