I’m Hongzi
I live in the countryside with my husband Xiaoke and my dad
It’s been seven years
After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, I go to the garden every day
I also pick some flowers from the wild
I make flower arrangements and dye fabrics using plants
Xiaoke keeps pigeons
He also makes black tea and plum wine
My dad has a kitchen garden and he sometimes exchanges seedlings with the villagers
He has his own life
I and Xiaoke were programmers
We worked in a foreign company for 10 years
For a while we worked overtime every day
When we didn’t need to work on a weekend
We didn’t know what to do and felt at a loss
So we started to consider taking a break and living in a different way
In 2012, we travelled to Yi County
We had a strong desire
To live here
Finally we chose Nanping Village which was full of ancient architecture
The house is at the back of the village and is surrounded by old alleys and paths
It was built during the period between the end of Ming dynasty and the beginning of Qing dynasty
It’s a typical Siheyuan-style house
After you walk through the entrance, you will see a patio
Then it’s the main room and the yard
The yard is as big as 150m2
There are Xueliu at Chunfen, Ziteng at Qingming
There are also Weigela florida, clematis and roses
One morning, Xiaoke went out to walk our dog
He walked into the valley and heard birds singing and the creek running
Which all produced echos in the valley
Then he decided to name our garden
Echo Garden
It used to be an abandoned farmland
With a mulberry field and a tea garden
I rented it for my dad to grow vegetables
Now the area has been enlarged into 2 mus
We started to learn gardening when we lived in the city and grew plants in our balcony
Then forums were popular
And flowers lovers in China formed online groups
To learn from each other
We didn’t do much design for Echo Garden
I intentionally allow it into form a semi-wild style
I’m inspired by my life in the countryside for the past years
We should learn from the nature
There’s no tap water in the garden
So the flowers rely much on weather and climate
Those fragile plant species gradually disappear
In my garden
Over the past 7 years, lots of wild plants have rooted and sprouted here
They are either carried by birds or flown by wind
Flowers are pleasant
We like drinking coffee
Xiaoke has renovated the place for pigeons into a mini kitchen
In the evenings of summer, you can see glowworms in the garden
They twinkle
We stay in the garden all year around, except for summer
We enjoy flowers and views
We wish our garden will have all kinds of birds
Even mice and snakes are welcomed
It will become a world of plants and animals
After we resigned
The main source of finance is the revenue of our guesthouse
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the village almost closes
We barely see any visitor here since March
We were quite anxious at the beginning
But the spring this year is so beautiful
We have plenty of time to do anything we like
I make clothes dyed with plants and wear them all year around
I also sell handicrafts
We both think our current life is wonderful
Even if the situation improves
We still want to keep such a simple life-style
I dye fabrics with plants and Xiaoke make tea and wine
To form a deeper connection with plants
It’s an updated version of our past life
Maybe a few years later, when people talk about us
We are no longer two former IT engineers who renovate a rural house into a guesthouse
But a craftsman and a winemaker
I think we represent those very ordinary people
Who have small dreams
Although we have some financial difficulties
We are rich at the spiritual level
Living in the countryside is a great decision
To us