Heaven for egrets is a nursery
Built by my father Liao Quanfu in 1998
Five or six years later a flock of birds came
We are still conserving the forest for birds
Now we cooperate even better than before
People think we are so happy, while in fact it’s really hard work
Egrets are super sensitive
We haven’t been selling trees
There was a time we moved a tree
And the egrets didn’t come for months
Later my father built some fish ponds
And replenished the forest, then the birds came back
In 2018 my parents moved in here
To be the guardians of the egrets
The nursery covers 30 mu of land
The recent two, three years have witnessed an increase in biodiversity
From March to August, this is a habitat and breeding ground
You can see the entire growing process of theirs
During the breeding season, chirps are heard 24 hours a day
Breeding plumage grow on their heads, like a peacock spreading its tail
Then there are various kinds of owls, kingfishers
And Asian paradise flycatchers perching here
And breeding
I never realized before
That there are different kinds of frogs, moths and butterflies
Your report on us brought quite a few visitors
They came to visit our home
But there was no place for them to sit
We eat outside, like what they do in the countryside
Later we built the teahouse
These two new buildings were designed by my father
The average age of the carpenters were over 72 years old
All of it mortise and tenon work
Constructing an ancient building is expensive
My father made ancient buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasty
Some materials are from the Republic Era
We recycled the bricks and wood
The bricks building the hostel are from the old pigsty
My father cleaned them one by one
The tearoom is in between an ancient building and a sun room
A fake mountain welcomes you as you enter
The faeces of birds are corrosive
They hurt the trees, so we would plant dozens of trees every year
Ninety percent of the trees in the yard
Were scavenged by my father
No one wanted the tree, it’s almost dead
So I covered it with soil
To about this high
And removed the soil gradually
I removed about 10 centimeter of soil in a year
So it’s alive on this half
Half alive we can say
This tree is at least one thousand years old
My father opened up two more forests for the birds
It’s 5km from the Sanxingdui Ruins
Before it was a garbage land
We rented it a decade ago
He filled in mud himself
The water was brought in from a branch of Dujiangyan
Egrets can find the place to eat fishes
After the sluice opens
Garbage are flushed into the pool
So my father picks up garbage regularly
The intangible influence in our family
Environment conservation, sustainable lifestyle
We may be able to influence others on small things
I do tours and talk to children about this
Introduce them to egrets
There are four main types in our nursery
Little egret, night heron, cattle egret and Chinese pond-heron
They can get to know the plants
And we also have ancient buildings here
I can show them how to find patterns on ancient buildings
Human in nature, nature in nursery
I have the opportunity to attend conferences on sustainable food
Because of my photography work
Plant food, seasonal food
Happens to fit in with the nursery
Sichuan peppers have just ripen by this time of the year
Our canola oil
Combined with the taste
The tingly aroma of Sichuan pepper
It’s so good
We also grow mulberries
Next month we will make broad bean paste
My mother and I often go to vegetable markets
Farmers sell seasonal vegetables they grow
On the market
It’s natural
My father had different jobs
Truck driver, restaurant worker, buyer, professional manager
Now he barely makes any money
People find it hard to understand
What is wrong with him
Others are busy making money
And we are all about protecting birds
All our money is invested on it
It’s about exploring a new way of life
Sometimes I feel like I’m out of touch with society
Sometimes I feel like I am keeping up just fine
Sometimes I’m like ahead of the rest