In recent days, a “Wildman NPC Recruitment Notice” released by the Shennongjia National Scenic Area in Hubei has quickly gained popularity on social media. The notice offers a daily salary of 500 yuan (RMB) to individuals who dress up in wildman costumes and interact with tourists within the scenic area. The recruitment notice has attracted over 4,000 applicants in a short period of time. Industry insiders have pointed out that the “Wildman Project” in Shennongjia reveals the “absurd self-rescue” actions taken by local governments under financial pressure.
According to a report by CCTV on June 9th, on June 7th, the Shennongjia Cultural Tourism Group issued a recruitment notice calling for “wildman” performers from across the country. The job responsibilities include wearing wildman costumes, roaming the scenic area, occasionally performing abstract dances, interacting with tourists using only body language, and documenting and sharing the experience of “being a wildman” through videos. The salary is calculated on a daily basis at 500 yuan per day.
Located in western Hubei, Shennongjia has long been known for its legend of the “wildman,” attracting tourists to visit. A spokesperson from the tourism group stated that the recruitment notice received nearly 4,000 applications on the first day of its release.
The news has sparked discussions among netizens, with some leaving comments such as, “The perfect job for me has arrived,” and “Do they need a wildman who wears glasses?”
Ms. Zhao, a resident of Wuhan, expressed in an interview with a reporter that due to the current economic downturn and difficulties in finding jobs, many businesses have closed down. She mentioned, “Many state-owned enterprises in our area are struggling. For example, sanitation workers have not been paid for over a month, and some companies even longer. With decreasing tourists in Shennongjia, the scenic area has been operating at a loss. If they don’t find ways to attract more visitors, I don’t think they can survive this year.”
Another Wuhan resident, Mr. Sun, revealed to reporters that a well-established state-owned enterprise, Central Department Store Group, has closed some stores this month and plans to shut down thousands of small and medium-sized branch stores by the end of the year. He stated, “There are fewer people shopping at supermarkets now, and the cashiers at Central Department Store only receive a monthly salary of about 2,000 yuan, as the company claims it cannot afford rent and labor costs.”
He added that the Central Department Store Group was once the largest chain retail enterprise in Hubei, with over two thousand stores. However, due to a shrinking consumer market and rising operational costs, they are facing a fate of significant downsizing.
Ms. Tang, another resident, shared, “Three months ago, a Central Department Store that I often passed by on my way to work suddenly closed. There are too many people unemployed now, and the flow of customers in supermarkets has significantly decreased.”
Amid the backdrop of a faltering economy, the “Wildman Recruitment” initiative launched by Shennongjia Scenic Area is undoubtedly a visually striking operation. Wearing dense fur “wildman” costumes in the forests, attracting tourists to stop and take photos, and creating a wave of traffic on short video platforms. However, several experts point out that behind this hype is the harsh reality of local financial constraints, employment pressure, and the continuous expansion of cultural and tourism policy objectives.
Peng Zhiyuan (pseudonym), a former planning officer at a certain prefecture-level city’s cultural and tourism bureau, described such projects as sounding like “brainstormed ideas from a last-minute meeting.”
In an interview, he commented, “Local cultural and tourism departments often do not focus on the long-term benefits of projects but rather on delivering quantifiable achievements like ‘increased tourist numbers year on year’ and ‘creating job opportunities.’ Recruiting wildmen seems like a shortcut. On the other hand, as Shennongjia has not discovered real wildmen, its attraction is diminishing.”
From a macro perspective, several researchers believe that the Shennongjia Scenic Area has essentially become part of a “political performance laboratory.” These areas not only need to be self-sufficient but also undertake multiple tasks such as job creation and consumption stimulation.
Ma Jing, a commentator on the tourism industry in Hubei, analyzed from a professional standpoint, “While tourists see entertaining wildman performances, what we see is the tangible anxieties of local governments.”
She elaborated that in the current backdrop of tightening central finances and slowing infrastructure investments, many regions in central and western China can only rely on the cultural and tourism industry for self-sustenance. However, these places often lack core resources and service capabilities, resorting to using short video gimmicks and low-cost visual spectacles to attract attention, which is undoubtedly a form of absurd self-rescue.
A local audit system personnel, who chose to remain anonymous, disclosed to reporters that the financial situation of the Shennongjia Scenic Area is actually very dire. While visitors are seen taking videos and sharing on social media platforms, what they see is that the operational funds of the scenic area can only sustain for one to two months, the outdated infrastructure is hard to improve, and employee salaries rely on special subsidies from higher authorities.