The southern foothills of Wugui Mountain, which are gentle and accustomed, are full of tourists.
Compared with the traditional weekend project of climbing the mountain, young people from Guangshen Guanzhu prefer a rising "net red punch point". Starting from Zhongshan City, follow the Tanzhou Express, drive into the country road of Maxi Village, pass through the dense camphor forest, and the bamboo forest is hidden by a local village that has just been developed - Qixi Village.
Winding paths lead to a verdant green bamboo surrounded by a transparent glass house.
When the wind blew, the patches of vanilla in front of the room turned into waves, and the light was transmitted through the branches and leaves, falling to the ground, becoming a swaying spot of light. A group of young people seem to have entered Miyazaki's paintings.
"We left Guangzhou and came to the small village of Zhongshan for a day, and our bodies and minds were healed. The whole village has been transformed by a group of young people who yearn for a free life. In the public comments, netizen Junjun gave Qixi Village a full score.
It is the young who heal the young.
Panorama of Qixi Village. South + Lu Ziheng shooting
In recent years, Qixi has gathered a group of young entrepreneurs from the north and south of the world.
These "new villagers" are many famous students from Cambridge University, Sun Yat-sen University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the University of Virginia in the United States. They traveled thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, but chose to inhabit this small but beautiful village. Nearly 50 "new villagers" have hatched more than a dozen entrepreneurial projects in this little-known village.
"The young people here are not here to 'escape', on the contrary, they have a strong sense of enterprise. Staying in Qixi Village, we want to start a new business model that is different from the city. Find the right balance between career development, personal growth and family life. Wang Cihang, a 90-year-old architect who has just settled in Qixi Village, said.
Qixi Village. South + Lu Ziheng shooting
The ideals and realities of the countryside
From a distance, the glass house is the main position of the Qixi Life Farm. On the farm, crops such as roselle, ginger, rosemary, chamomile and other crops are planted in winter and summer. These crops have been handmade into vanilla teas and natural care products and have been favored by consumers.
Xiao Hao, the founder of Qixi Life Farm, admitted that last year, the farm's annual sales reached more than 1 million yuan, maintaining a balanced revenue, and this year's revenue is better.
Large agricultural investment, long cycle, low returns, this is most ordinary people's perception of agriculture. As a young generation, why did Xiao Hao choose to come to Qixi Village in a foreign land and run a living farm?
"When I was a child, there was a large wild forest, a river flowed from behind the village, and the shore was full of orchard trees." A few years ago, Xiao Hao, who graduated from Northwest A&F University, first came to Qixi Village, but he missed the countryside with a beautiful ecological environment and frequent visits by villagers and neighbors.
But he found a problem: "Even if the scenery is charming from a distance, people are not willing to stay in the countryside, because they can smell pesticides when they get closer." ”
Xiao Hao. South + Lu Ziheng shooting
In the past, Qixi Village leased land to farmers instead of farming. In pursuit of maximizing economic benefits, many chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used for local fruit trees.
In order to recreate the ideal ecological village, Xiao Hao launched the entrepreneurial project of "Qixi Life Farm" at the foot of Wugui Mountain. Obviously, this is no longer a traditional agricultural project. Xiao Hao calculated carefully: the rent of a piece of farmland is 1200 yuan, the employment of labor is at least 3000 yuan per month, and it is almost difficult to make a profit by planting vegetables and rice and other crops. "As young people, we hope to develop ecological agriculture and do a project that integrates primary, secondary and tertiary industries." Xiao Hao said.
In the past 5 years, "Qixi Life Farm" has been like a test field for Xiao Hao to explore the ideal countryside. It took him 2-3 years to do sample land testing, and gradually found that Wugui Mountain, which is rich in "agarwood", is suitable for growing spice crops.
So in the summer, the farm sows lemongrass, roselle, and turmeric, and in the winter, chamomile, kale, and beetroot. The aromatic substances of the spices themselves drive away the insect pests, and the planting has achieved no pesticides and no fertilizers.
The harvested spice crops can not only be made into tea bags, soaps and various pure lotions, but also gradually evolve into handmade products that can be processed for export. With the help of a good natural environment, Qixi Life Farm has also become a "punching point" for weekend trips and holiday trips for residents in Guangshen, Zhuhai and Zhongshan urban areas.
During the Dragon Boat Festival holiday just after, the picture of the integrated development of the first, second and third industries of the "Qixi Life Farm" was illuminated into reality. In the narrow village road of Qixi Village, the motorcade lined up in a long line, and the streets and alleys were full of people. Qixi, the "net red village", now has more vitality, with more than 1,000 visitors a day on weekends. Data show that during this year's Dragon Boat Festival, Guinan Maxi and Qixi areas received a total of 10,581 tourists on three days.
Panorama of Qixi Village. South + Lu Ziheng shooting
Young people flock to the scene
Chemical fertilizers and pesticides have disappeared, the environment has improved, and ecological agriculture has developed, and Qixi Village is moving towards a sustainable development of ecological villages and ecological communities.
Under the spread of social media, Qixi Village is no longer hidden in a remote mountain village, nesting and attracting phoenixes, ushering in more post-80s and post-90s who look forward to harmonious coexistence with nature.
On a public holiday, Qixi Village has nearly 1,000 visitors a day. With the increase in the flow of people, entrepreneurial projects and studios have developed, and various nature education institutions and rural research institutions have come.
In 2017, former media personality Wu Juan resigned from the newspaper and founded the "Dingdong Wilderness Academy" in Qixi, where she took the children to observe and explore the birds, plants and insects around them, so that the children could discover the beauty of nature and establish an emotional connection with nature.
In 2018, after graduating from Schumacher College in the United Kingdom, Liang Ying also chose to come to Qixi to establish the "Shumi Academy". Led a group of young people to qixi immersive study and life, truly feel the charm of nature.
From just a few days of "experience class" to becoming a volunteer in Qixi, Arun, an illustrator working in Shenzhen, finally chose to stay in Qixi and founded an Arun illustration studio.
At the beginning of this year, Wang Cihang, an architectural designer who has worked in Guangzhou for many years, completely moved to Qixi Village to live and start a business. "My wife is one of the founders of Shumi Academy, and I've lived here most weekends in the past." Wang Cihang said.
Wang Cihang. South + Lu Ziheng shooting
From settling in Qixi to starting a business, Wang Cihang seems to value the community of young people who are gradually forming here.
"It's very comfortable here, the young people here are not here to 'escape the world', on the contrary, they also have a strong sense of enterprise." Staying in Qixi Village, we want to start a new business model that is different from the city. Find the right balance between career development, personal growth and family life. Wang Cihang said.
"An architectural designer like Wang Cihang, whose work is not limited by geography, can provide him with inspiration for a good ecological environment, and many artists and designers are slowly rooted in the countryside." In Xiao Hao's eyes, an ecological community belonging to young people is taking shape.
With the flow of people, the café is easy to do. Danna, who runs the café, has become an "internet celebrity boss lady". "Her artisan bread used to be impossible to eat without a reservation, and now she can't eat it when she has made an appointment." Xiao Hao joked, "The houses at the end of the village, the rent of 1,000 yuan / month in the past was not cared for, and now it has risen to 3,000 yuan / month, but there is 'no room to rent', which is more expensive than the rent of houses in urban areas." ”
The influx of young people has formed a new community of "gravity".
Wang Cihang and his wife. South + Lu Ziheng shooting
Dialogue on "Rural Revitalization"
"We propose to build ecological communities and develop ecological villages, which is consistent with the concept of the rural revitalization strategy proposed by the state." Xiao Hao admits that the current situation in most villages today is that young people are crowded into big cities to work, and only the elderly and children are left in the village. What rural revitalization lacks most is suitable jobs for young people. Only industrial revitalization can create rural jobs and realize talent revitalization.
Rural development is first and foremost about people. But why are these young people willing to stay in Qixi Village without going anywhere else?
Through dialogue with the "new villagers" in Qixi, the reporter found that for a young man, he needs community life and partners.
Qixi Village is no longer just an ecological village, it has become a carrier for young people to form a community. On weekends, country choirs, sharing sessions and movie parties are held here. Activities are organized spontaneously by young people in the community.
"A young man can feel the richness of life here. Here, we are not alone, not farming alone in the remote countryside, and we are not alone in the empty countryside. There is an atmosphere and community here, forming a cluster effect of young people, attracting groups of young people to come and develop. Arun, an illustrator after the 90s, said.
Arun. South + Lu Ziheng shooting
With the increasing number of "new villagers", a youth alliance for rural construction was formed. The Alliance has set up an Alliance Pact to provide a platform for everyone to discuss the public affairs of the community. In such a loose and close organization, everyone has raised organizational funds, jointly managed the work of the community, and orderly followed the principle of no herbicides and no disposable environmental protection supplies, and jointly maintained a sustainable and benign development of the living circle.
As the "new villagers" of Qixi, this group of young people and the old villagers are also getting closer and closer. At the beginning of this year, the government and the designers in the village jointly initiated the formation of a design team, which opened up the channels of communication between the old villagers and the government. “
"In the past, we found that the renovation and design project for rural revitalization was originally funded by the government to do practical things for the village. However, because the communication channels between the government and the villagers are not unblocked, it is difficult for the government to fully understand the real needs of the villagers, and the villagers cannot express their demands smoothly. Wang Cihang believes that he is also constantly trying to get along with the old villagers." We are part of the community, and we also hope to build a bridge between the old villagers and the government, use the advantages of their architectural design, participate in the construction of rural revitalization projects, promote the improvement of the overall aesthetic environment of the countryside, and make our community better and better. ”
Reporter Zeng Yanchun of Nanfang Daily
【Photography】 Lu Ziheng
[Correspondent] Chen Jieting Song Xinni
【Author】 Zeng Yanchun; Lu Ziheng
【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client