Though 19-year-old Wang Bangxing has never ventured beyond the city limits of his native Beijing - never mind ever milked a cow or sown a seed - he wants to be a 'farmer'. But the harvest he is after is to be found in the virtual world, in the hugely successful online games such as World of Warcraft and Legend of Mir II.
For now, he works by himself, spending six to eight hours a day slaying dragons and ogres, collecting valuable game codes as he travels. He then sells this booty for cash on eBay and online forums, to other players around the world who are desperate to boost their characters' status. Down the line he envisions hiring scores of migrant workers to toil away in shifts as he benefits from economies of scale.
Computer gaming is nothing short of a national obsession in China, particularly among young, urban males. Of the country's 103 million internet users, 25 million are regular gamers and about 2 million are playing online at any one time.
They gather in front of flickering terminals in the country's 100,000 cybercafes - generally expansive, dank dungeons that reek of stale cigarette smoke and body odour. These places are not for those with sensitive ears, either: as the players engage in battle they intermittently whoop with delight, taunt and tease their co-players and lift the roof with colourful obscenities. Students slurp instant noodles as they play, and around the periphery a few crash out on chairs, catching quick naps before jumping back into the fray.
The gaming phenomenon has caused major concern among parents and the authorities. It has been blamed for truancy, poor academic results, ill health and violence. Some experts believe that up to 5 million of the regular gamers are socially dysfunctional addicts, and the world's first specialist clinic has opened in Beijing to cure them of their cyber-cravings.
Several disturbing stories have hit the headlines this year, adding fuel to the debate. Among those whose real and virtual worlds have collided was a 13-year-old boy from Tianjin who committed suicide, apparently in the belief that he could meet his virtual character in the afterlife. In Shanghai, an avid gamer was sentenced to life in prison in June for stabbing a competitor to death who had borrowed, and then sold, his virtual 'dragon sabre'.