The retention of teachers is critical to the development of rural preschool education in China. We conducted a sample survey of 3790 rural kindergarten teachers from 22 counties (or cities) of 10 provinces and examined the effects of work stress and job apathy on the turnover intention of rural preschool teachers using the work stress, job apathy and turnover intention scales. According to the research findings, work stress can significantly predict rural kindergarten teachers' turnover intention; job apathy plays a mediating role between job stress and teacher turnover intention, and the indirect effect is greater than the direct effect; Bianzhi membership can moderate the direct effect of work stress on teacher turnover intention and the mediating effect of job apathy.