Former diplomat harvests a new life

Nijs recalled that when he was a child, he visited many exhibitions about China. At the age of 18, he was caught up in the world of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching."I felt that my previous life must have been in China," he says.

"In 2010, the first time I came to Yunnan, I fell in love with it. Yunnan is like a magical combination of my birthplace, Africa and China. I think I am able to fulfill my rural dream here."

The outbreak of COVID-19 did impact on their rural idyll.

"Even in our remote village, there were staff helping with the checking in and out. During the epidemic, I attended a funeral in a neighboring village and was tested several times for my temperature, and the villagers did not treat me as a foreigner," Nijs says.

Nijs cherishes the sustainable agricultural business in Dongchuan as his own spiritual exploration and practice. In Yunnan, more and more young people are coming to him to exchange ideas about reviving the countryside.

"Look, this is the parsley I brought back from Belgium. It's like me, happily growing here," Nijs says.