She retreated to Zhongnan Mountain in plain cloth, and her small courtyard life is even freer than that of Xiaolongnü

Source: Minsu Toutiao

At the age of 23

Xiangzi stepped into Zhongnan Mountain and moved into the deep mountains

Everyone said the young girl definitely would not last long

In the blink of an eye, 2018 arrived

This was already her sixth year living in Zhongnan Mountain

Now she

In a frog-button garment, with a long skirt

Free and unrestrained, just like a fairy in the mountains

Xiangzi said

To sit back and do nothing about the things that move your heart

That is truly life's greatest regret

At 17, she dropped out of school

She went alone to Beijing

Then moved on to Shenzhen

From an assistant doing odd jobs and learning to a professional photographer

She had a respectable job at a photo studio

But photography, which should be creative

Had here turned into an assembly line

This way of shooting was not what she wanted

She submitted her resignation to the photo studio

In 2010 she returned to Beijing and became an independent photographer

With no money to make a studio

Better to just stay on the road

Wherever she went, that was her studio

32 provinces and 56 cities in China

And farther away, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia...

She kept walking through the world

And the camera in her hands kept recording the beauty along the way

Her fateful connection with Zhongnan Mountain

Was in September 2013

She accompanied a good friend to Zhongnan Mountain for a spiritual retreat

Seeing this place for the first time

It was as if she had been here in a dream

At the foot of the verdant mountain stood an earthen hut next to a peach grove

Beside it, a gurgling stream crossed the fields and flowed into the distance

In front of and behind the house were nearly 100 mu of peach groves

What accompanied her were clear wind, birdsong, endless sunlight and silence

--This was simply the small courtyard of her dreams!

At the time it had already been abandoned for a long time

Inside there was nothing but a pile of scrap wood

No water

Every day she walked half an hour each way to the village to carry it back

No electricity

She made do with candles at first, then went and bought solar power

Life looked hard, but Xiangzi was always happy in it

Lighting a fire, cooking

Using fresh wild shepherd's purse picked in the woods to go with noodles

Was the first meal she ate here.

Mixing mud to repair wall cracks, patching windows, paving the floor...

Every day covered in dust

The original stove had already partly collapsed

Xiangzi simply tore it down

And built a new one herself

While she was at it, she also built a tatami platform for drinking tea

Spread on a mat

Set a small low table

Good for brewing tea, reading, chatting

She rescued from the villagers dead wood that had nearly been burned

Dug some soil, planted small flowers

Placed them in the corner of the wall

In the simple little house

Fresh small flowers were always arranged

Blooming with abundant vitality

After repairing the house

She then set about cultivating the wasteland beside the little house

Planting some vegetables she liked

The beautiful pastoral life was not as simple as imagined

The calluses in her palms were worn away by the hoe

When she went to the creek to fetch water for the vegetables, she was tripped by grass on both sides

She could only look at her soaked shoes and smile wryly

Fortunately

The vegetables she planted were as tenacious as she was

They were good at staying vigorous and upward even in a wild and helpless state

Even when they met someone who was not good at tending a vegetable field

They still repaid her with fruit.

Every time she stepped into the vegetable field

Xiangzi felt not only the joy of harvest

But also overflowing devotion and gratitude

Some people asked

Running off to the mountains all alone

Would her family agree?

At first

Of course her parents did not agree

At home there was no worry about food or clothing, everything was available

Yet their daughter ran off to this poor place with no water or electricity to suffer

They could not understand how they had given birth to such an odd daughter

Until they gradually sensed their daughter's happiness here

And saw her growth

Up to now

From time to time Xiangzi's mother comes to stay for a while

Her initial disapproval also gradually turned into support.

Last summer she even brought her little nephew along to escape the heat

In 2015 Xiangzi's mother came to Zhongnan Mountain for the third time to stay a while

She took her mother hiking

Finally they could embrace each other without any barrier

Living in the deep mountains

Brought her closer to the changing seasons of nature

In early April

The peach blossom grove around the small courtyard bloomed

Some lovely friends quietly came to visit

A little sheep came to graze beside the small courtyard

A plump magpie came under the small courtyard's gate to shelter from the rain

Whenever it rained, it would stand there

Watch the rain for a while

Preen its feathers for a while

Xiangzi took the stray cat she had picked up in the deep mountains in autumn

Out for a walk to look at flowers

She put it on the apricot blossom tree

A truly handsome fellow

There was no trace left of how thin and dark it had been half a year earlier

Brewing a pot of good tea in the peach blossom grove

Drinking it all in one go amid the fragrance of the whole world

In summer, Xiangzi, who loved lotus flowers most

Always had to run to the lotus pond every day

To feel the breeze and smell the fresh fragrance, that was enough

Spring goes and winter comes

Watching the water dripping from the eaves freeze into ice

The stream runs dry

When heavy snow seals off the mountain,

Deep in the mountains, every day they melt snow water to brew tea and cook meals

Aside from fetching water and lighting the fire

Tea and books are the best companions

The plum blossoms have bloomed

Sometimes add two plum blossoms to the tea

On days of swirling snow

All around the small courtyard, ice crystals can be seen everywhere

The river surface covered in snow

The wintersweet in the ancient temple

The persimmons that escaped wind, rain and bird pecks

And picking up the camera

She rediscovered the true meaning of photography

It is once again the season of flowers blooming in the Zhongnan Mountains

Friends come from afar

Wandering the mountains, admiring flowers, tasting tea ...

Roaming among the plants and the heavens and earth

As if back to the days of youth

In her eyes

Clean clothes hanging on tree branches

All become as beautiful as a painting

Most of the girls in her photographs appear bare-faced

No gorgeous gowns

No grand display

And no need for makeover-style post-processing

The girls who come here all have the simplest, truest makeup

The most free-spirited and lively poses

It is a communication of souls

And even more, a creation about beauty

Up to now

She has recorded the beauty of more than 500 girls

Several years of life in the Zhongnan Mountains have settled her temperament

Her irritability grows ever fainter

Her fears grow fewer and fewer

Her composure grows greater and greater

Xiangzi, who has always been afraid of heights

Could actually walk the cliffside paths at the top of Jiawutai in the Zhongnan Mountains

Xiangzi says she is not a hermit

Nor a cultivator

Just an ordinary person who loves nature

And breaks through all difficulties and trials

To bring her dreams into reality

And everything here makes her feel even more at peace

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