Woman quits high-pressure job to live on uninhabited island, now earns ₹40,000 per month

A WOMAN in China has quit her corporate job of two decades to live on an uninhabited island and work at a fish feeding base. Yue Li used to work as a senior manager at a large Beijing firm but gave up the chaos of city life for the calm and peace of island life.

Since mid-December, Yue Li has been working as a quality inspector at a fish feeding base on the uninhabited Dongzhai Island, according to a South China Morning Post report.

Working on an uninhabited island

Yue’s job description includes inspecting the fish feeding equipment, recording water temperature and sea waves, and monitoring the growth of the fish.

The job pays her a salary of 3,000 yuan ( ₹40,000 approximately). Despite the relatively low pay and the fact that she gets only four days off every two months, her job has sparked envy on social media. 

Yue, who was born in the 1980s, lives alone on the island in the East China Sea. The nearest inhabited island to her is Daishan Island, around 40 km away.

She says that work pressure led her to quit her job as a senior manager at a major Beijing-based property developer. The job required constant travelling. When she did work from the Beijing office, the commute alone took four hours a day.

All the travelling and commuting had begun to take a toll on her mental and physical health.

“I was on business trips for 300 days of the year. While I was in Beijing, I spent four hours commuting between the office and home every day. At that time, I was at the extreme points of both my physical and mental health,” said Yue.

“I asked myself, Is this the life you want?” she added.

Life on an island: the good and the bad

Months ago, while visiting Zhoushan in eastern Zhejiang province, Yue noticed a recruitment ad for a quality inspector position. She was drawn to it because, with a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan and just four days off every two months, the job promised her ample free time.

“I will be away from the hustle and bustle of city life. I can also spend lots of time reading books and enjoy the setting sun and the sea,” Yue said.

After spending a month working and living on the remote island, Yue admitted that the conditions were tough.

Stormy weather dominated much of her stay, and heavy rains often caused water to leak through the kitchen roof. On days when the wind reached Level 9, she couldn’t even light a fire to cook.

Her daily supplies were delivered by a ship that visited only rarely. Rats were another constant challenge — she discovered her toothpaste had been stolen by them the day after her arrival.

Despite all this, Yue still enjoys island life, spending much of her time fishing and catching crabs. “The supply of eels and crabs is super-rich here. There is more than enough for me to eat,” said Yue in one video clip posted on her social media account.

“This life experience will definitely be a highlight of my life. I have sought my freedom and inner peace in this simple and harsh environment,” she noted.