I was born in the north
I came to Changsha and visited Yuelu Mountain
I found the house in a valley, and it was as big as nearly 520 m2 together with the yard
The rent was less than 20,000 yuan a year
Which sounded cheap to me
Because it was located in the downtown and it enjoyed mountain views
I felt free here
In around September, 2020
One of my childhood friends and I talked about doing an interesting project
Yuelu Mountain is in the center of the city
It’s only 20 minutes’ walk to the metro station
The house had been left empty for several years
And it was in bad condition
But I could renovate it by myself
The whole process was interesting
There was no path
But in order to save effort, we paved a path here
Sometimes we might need to shoulder over 100 sacks of sand one day
The hall was divided into three rooms
I wished it to be open and bright
So we removed the walls to let light in
While we were knocking down the wall
I suddenly realized it was a nice wall and I should keep it
To make the whole space dynamic
I call that place with lots of doors the Glass Room
The windows are everywhere and the views outside are like landscape paintings
The parts of the walls knocked down were made from rammed earth
We used them as paint with some glue
We had only one principle, which was trying not to damage any historic things
Because human cannot change what time can change
The old house had lots of things to be made use of by us
All the tables and chairs are made of old wood
That chandelier is actually made
By makin a groove in the middle of an albino branch
I have never thought of intalling an air-condition
But keeping warm in winter is a problem
So a fireplace is needed
I go to pick firewood in the mountain
It’s been snowing recently
It’s the heaviest snow I have ever seen since I came to Changsha
The snow even broke the waxberry tree
So I have more firewood now
In April, 2021, my mother passed away
Which was a big shock to me
I feel life is full of uncertainty
My mind has wholy changed
I want to make it a half-public studio
For music events and exhibitions
To hold some modern and interesting activities
Friends in the mountain live close to each other
Feiji does plant dyeing
And he also really likes staying in nature
KK is good at cooking
We gather together for no reason at all
We do cooking games
And we also communicate
My friend has a band
They held the first concert in the old house and we called it “Fireside Concert”
It was wonderful
In sunny days
When I see leaves swaying in wind
I feel it all fall into place
No one likes noisy places and being nervous
My working schedule is flexible and I don’t have to sit in an office
I’m concentrated in what I really want to do
Many people may feel it’s hard to survive
In such a condition
But for me
Only doing what I like can bring me a better life