Back to basics

The boutique hostel. Da Le Zhi Ye, which is minimalist and comfortable. [Photo/China Daily]

In Chinese culture, most intellectuals dream of living like hermits in the countryside after they have attained a deep understanding of life and achieved success in their career or in academia. In the old days, many of them gave up living in the city and moved to villages to embrace nature and inner peace.

This tradition has been in vogue for thousands of years.

Ji Xiaoxiang and Yang Mohan, a pair of 33-year-old Shanghainese men who graduated from Tongji University's Urban Planning School, are among those who have made the journey to the village.

After having spent several years doing designs for urban developments, the duo were left feeling disenchanted as many of their projects did not become reality. Determined to find a new challenge in their careers, they traveled extensively in search of something that was aligned with their skills. And they eventually ended up in Biwu village in Deqing county.

"It was New Year's Day in 2013. It was snowing heavily the day we arrived in Biwu and the whole place was covered in soft white snow," Ji says.

"Yang and I were standing on the terrace of an old farmer's house, facing the mountains, and it was there that we decided that this was to be the place."

The duo soon rented the old house and spent all their savings to transform the property into a boutique hostel. They named it Da Le Zhi Ye, or a beautiful land which is forgotten, inspired by the ancient book The Classic of Mountains and Rivers. Ji, who had never lived in the countryside before, now prides himself on having successfully integrated with the local community.