While traveling through epic cities, and fairytale towns
Still in the back of my mind, I would often imagine a tiny village.
The sort of place where time seems to stand still.
When I heard about a remote town called Shaxi, it sounded just like what I had pictured.
Since it is not reachable by train or airport, and since hardly any foreigners or locals visit,
Finding our way there was like solving a puzzle.
Taking us across the province on a handful of tiny local buses.
Is this the bus station?
Shaxi.
Sha... Shaxi?
Uhhhh.....
And then we'd arrived. Into a scene from a storybook.
This is one of the most charming, peaceful, beautiful places that I have ever seen!
It's like I have found the Shire from Lord of the Rings.
That's how I feel right now. What is this place? It's like a little fairy tale!
Shaxi is a small village located in Yunnan Province in southwestern China.
It was once a well-known stop along the ancient Tea Horse Trail
Which stretched out of Yunnan into Burma and Tibet.
For centuries, Shaxi was alive with travelling horse caravans.
Which would pass through trading tea, salt, and Tibetan horses.
Today, this is the best-preserved town left on the ancient trail.
Being in Shaxi really does feel like you've stepped back in time.
There is no traffic, no pollution, and no crowds.
The town's residents seem to greatly value the tranquility of their home.
Some of the local inns even instruct guests not to engage in noisy activities, such as playing cards
And to instead read and drink tea.
Hi! Hi!
I bet we could fit her in our bags. Let's take her.
Back in the days of the horse caravans, the local Ouyang family opened an inn in town.
It quickly became popular, and was kept busy with traders from far and wide.
The inn became known for not only offering a place to sleep,
But also delicious home-cooked meals, and lively entertainment each night in the courtyard.
Today, the Ouyang house is still lived in by a few members of the family.
Although its lofty days as a caravan inn are over,
The family still welcomes travelers to come inside and tour the house,
Which is full of intricate, handcrafted woodwork.
So it is a private house, but you are allowed to come in and pay.
This woman is going to show us around.
The woman is just walking through this place
and mysteriously opening these very old, creaking wooden doors.
There's a very antiquated feeling here, like you're living in the past.
So it's pretty cool.
It's only this one woman living here that we can see right now.
There are potatoes right on the cutting board, and knives, things in water about to be cooked,
But no one here doing anything with it, except for her.
It almost feels like this place is just... like someone was just here.
And the stuff is just waiting for them to come back,
But they've disappeared in time.
That's kind of how it feels. If that makes sense.
This town has been such a success! Like all the time there's just good things happening, and -
Oh hi!
Yeah, like that!
Why are so many of us drawn to these tiny towns?
The quiet. The crisp summer air.
The simplistic beauty.
For me, some of them remind me of my childhood.
Back when even daily ventures to the woods seemed fresh and exciting.
When my mother would read me bedtime stories.
When the world I knew was small, but seemed large.
Perhaps it's the home-cooked meals.
Perhaps it's the wholesome purity of this place.
But for whatever reason, when I was in Shaxi, I kept thinking of my family.
Half a world away.
It was here that I decided to go back to my home country for a few months to visit my family.
To have coffee with my mother.
To listen to the lifelong stories of my grandparents.
To stay up late into the night talking with my brothers and sisters.
Where I would tell them stories of my travels, far and wide.
Just like the horse caravans would at the Ouyang House.
And one of them would be about a little town called Shaxi.