SHANGHAI - A majority of more than 3,000 people who participated in an online poll feel China's "ant tribe" should try their luck in second- or third-tier cities instead of struggling for opportunities in highly competitive metropolises.

The term "ant tribe", coined by Lian Si, a scholar who wrote a book about the post-80s generation in China, refers to millions of fresh graduates who crowd together in slums across the country's big cities in search of opportunities.

Of those who participated in the survey, which was conducted by the social research center of China Youth Daily earlier this month, 61 percent said the ant tribe should bid farewell to big cities like Beijing and Shanghai.