Search for ‘rainforest trekking’ on Xiaohongshu and you’ll find countless bloggers using phrases like ‘primitive’, ’embraced by nature’, ‘off the grid’, and ‘organic vitality’ to describe the emotional resonance the rainforest provides. In September 2024, my friends and I also travelled to a tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna. There, the embrace…
Not long after moving to Kunming, I found a restaurant that I felt I simply had to share with my friends: Tusheng Shiguan. Now in its fourteenth year, it has earned a modest reputation in the city. Tucked away in a creative park on a steep slope, the ingredients and…
Starting an organic sourdough bakery was not a whim. In order to provide my family with quality carbs, I spent several years learning how to make sourdough using a natural wild yeast starter. Over those years, I often gave loaves to friends or brought them along to potluck dinners, where…
I. An Unexpected Village Party Secretary “Ecological farming?” Fan Hanquan, who had his back to us, suddenly turned around. “I want to try it.” I was slightly surprised. It was 23 February 2022. I remember it so clearly because since I entered E-Ren Valley in 2021, he has been the…
Editor’s Note I first met Jiang Ziqi at a book fair in Hangzhou in 2023, where she invited the Farmer Seed Network to give a talk on seed saving. At the time, I learned that she and some of her partners in Hangzhou cultivated their own small vegetable gardens and…
Editor’s Note I first met Jiang Ziqi at a book fair in Hangzhou in 2023. She had invited the Farmer Seed Network to give a talk on seed saving during the event; at the time, I knew that she and several of her partners in Hangzhou tended their own small…
In late September, as the rainy season in Xishuangbanna draws to a close, Qin Xianrong—a youth from the post-90s generation who has returned to his roots—drove us north from Mengyang Town in Jinghong City to visit his ecological planting base in Dadugang Township. To reach Dadugang, one must pass through…
Last week, the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai region suffered a historically rare series of blows, being hit by two consecutive typhoons of Force 10 or higher within just four days. Around 7:30 am on 16 September 2024, Typhoon Bebinca made landfall along the coast of the Lin-gang Special Area in…
Another Mid-Autumn Festival has arrived. When relatives and friends exchange gifts, they are mostly mooncakes. Some boxes are lavish, others simple; Cantonese or Suzhou style, savoury meat or purely vegetarian, handmade or organic. One might be from a prestigious old brand in Hong Kong, while another comes from a trendy…
Meeting Nichole made me realise just how dire the food and living environments of modern people have become. In the United States, the manicured lawns in front of houses are an environmental disaster. According to statistics from the environmental organisation Friends of the Earth, Americans spray 80 million pounds of…
