He built an estate because of "White Deer Plain," recreating his vanished hometown
When I read "White Deer Plain" in school, I was deeply drawn in by the Guanzhong natural environment, scenery and folk customs described in it, and longed to see that land with a character and appearance completely different from Jiangnan.
It wasn't until several years after graduating from university, while traveling, that I first went to Xi'an, this ancient capital of 13 dynasties on the Guanzhong Plain, the place that gave birth to "White Deer Plain."
What kind of place is White Deer Plain really? Are there really deer there? Tonight's guest, Guanzhong native Lin Hao, will take everyone into the real White Deer Plain, where he has built a comprehensive themed estate to bring the scenes from the book to life.
{Peony Girl Vol.780 }
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Recreating the novel White Deer Plain
For a period when I was 13, according to my mother's recollection, I seemed to be "bewitched."
The reason was a book I happened to buy at a bookstore, a thick volume that I held in my hands, squatting by the doorstep reading day and night, from the fields, at the dinner table, to under the covers, and I even fell and scraped myself on the way to school because of it, and I still have the scar now.
"White Deer Plain" was the first full-length novel I ever read, and also the one that influenced me most deeply. It tells the magnificent epic of 50 years of change on the Weihe Plain, a colorful and striking long scroll of Chinese rural life.
And as it happens, I live on this very land. I am Lin Hao, a Guanzhong man from Shaanxi.
When you talk about "White Deer Plain," you can't avoid the vivid characters of that land and the rise and fall of their fates.
Whether it is Bai Jiaxuan, who upheld benevolence and righteousness his whole life, or Lu Zilin, who schemed to bring down the Bai family, they all deeply loved that land that produced wheat,guarding the spiritual homeland of White Deer Plain through meticulous cultivation with shovel and harrow。
In different ways, they planted in generation after generation the temperament and character that White Deer Plain ought to have, as well as a profound attachment to that native soil.
The author of "White Deer Plain," Chen Zhongshi, won the 4th Mao Dun Literature Prize in 1993 for "White Deer Plain."
Over more than ten years, after graduating in tourism, I worked successively at the Dengba International Hotel chain, went to Taipei to join HYATT hotel, and later moved to Hong Kong, China, becoming management at Star Cruises, but no matter where I went,as long as I revisit this work, it feels like returning home, returning to old times.
In 2008, using my spare time, I began searching for and visiting the real-life locations from the novel "White Deer Plain," collecting stories circulated among neighbors and villages in Guanzhong.
On the vast Weihe Plain, a bowl of noodles, a glance, a ear of corn create connections between people. 13 dynasties left too many precious historical traces on this land of White Deer Plain, yet as the years passed, they gradually ceased to draw attention.
Now, ten years have passed, and more and more people who love this land have joined in. We have collected Shaanxi noodle food categories, 2748 types of Qinqiang opera repertoire, Guanzhong shadow puppetry, folk paintings, waist drums, Handiao Erhuang, yangge, storytelling, paper-cutting and so on.
I want to combine these experiential cultures with Confucian rites and learning, to recreate White Deer Plain culture, to activate and pass on everything this land once had.
In 2016, when the whole greater Xi'an was besieged by smog, I often drove eastward. No matter how heavy the smog was, the closer I got to White Deer Plain, the bluer the sky, the purer the air, and the calmer my heart.
With the completion of the White Deer Plain scenic area, a touch of historical weight was added to that beautiful natural scenery, and the story of Mr. Chen Zhongshi's "White Deer Plain" became ever clearer.
Before, I was seen by others as a follower of "White Deer Plain," reckless in my pursuit of its traces. After this,I want to build on this land a comprehensive White Deer Plain themed estate, moving the past into the future。
On the southeast side of White Deer Plain, fields and woods interlace, trees lush,
from afar you can see the magnificent peaks of the Qinling Mountains,
1200 mu of oxygen-rich forest,
the only thing you need to worry about is oxygen intoxication.
On the plain, far from industrial pollution,
the pure air has a negative ion content of over 10000;
gurgling clear springs emerge winding from the mountain forests,
passing through open ground, around the village entrance, rushing toward the village end.
This is the best possible place to rest the heart.
And so, at the White Deer Plain comprehensive themed estate, the first thing we planned was the guesthouses. Only when you stop and slow down can you hear the secrets of this land.
The smart egg pods of the [Mind-Reading Stay Area] are hidden in the ecological protection zone's white deer breeding park. According to statistics, there are currently fewer than one hundred white deer in China, and White Deer Plain alone has 22 rare white deer and 36 functional deer breeds.
We have preserved the most primitive natural forest park form, for a true experience of the tranquil life of white deer.
The new and the old are actually not a question of choosing one or the other.
In the egg pods, we added plenty of modern black technology, and now their diehard fans happen to be those young people who once got a headache at the very word "traditional."
It freely switches the transparency of the living space,
and can in an instant be surrounded by jungle and mountains;
starlight and sunlight fall right by your pillow,
starting at any time an extraordinary natural experience.
The [Chushi You She Cultural Guesthouse Area] is a youth hostel created specially for backpackers and students, but it is no longer the crude, dull, cheap hostel environment you imagine.
We invited the chief manager, a graduate in humanities and arts from the University of Bristol, to design it personally. Every room is different, fully satisfying the curious you.
Although they are bunk beds,
we still value personal privacy,
designed as independent spaces.
The bedding also all uses star-rated hotel standards,
branded bathroom fixtures, butler-style service.
After completing the basic functions, we also set aside a large amount of public space, for reading, watching movies, DIY dining.....
Being with friends is the whole point of a youth hostel.
The [Xiqili Cave Dwelling Guesthouse Area] recreates the ancient dwelling form of "cave dwelling" from more than 4000 years ago in the Guanzhong region, but the internal structure has been optimized and renovated in combination with its own architectural style, making it more suitable for modern living.
Here all themed experiences will also revolve around White Deer Plain culture.
With thousand-year Guanzhong learning as the soul and an academy as the carrier, we created the "Six Arts of the Heart" cultural study system.
Combining the character stories from the book White Deer Plain with real scenes,
recreating historical scenes,
to bring everyone a better understanding of the charm of Guanzhong culture.
Walking along the simple, aged-looking streets,
the shopkeepers' banner flags sway in the breeze.
The hawking cries of merchants along the road rise and fall one after another,
echoing with the loud recitation drifting from the academy on the hilltop,
and with the Qinqiang tunes belted out by farmers working in the fields.
The Buddhist sounds from temples hidden in the mountains are melodious,
the wooden fish taps echoing,
instantly dyeing this tranquil village with a rich air of everyday life,
as if you were placed in a secluded old time in Guanzhong.
Shower and cleanse yourself amid stretches of flower fields and tea gardens,
in the deep night sleeping soundly in the White Deer Plain mountain forest
view the moon and count the stars with 360° no blind spots.
Amid the mountain breeze, toast one another and dance wildly,
and you can also sip clear tea in facilities equipped with scenic tea seats,
quietly listening to the blessing chants of White Deer Plain.
In the future, this place will also gradually develop supporting experience areas such as the Wanle Mountain themed commercial area, the ecological protection zone White Deer Farm, the eco-tourism area Yangxin Valley, and the Guanzhong Literature Experience Area.
If you have stayed at a hotel on a mountaintop, the clouds stop outside your window; if you have stayed at a hotel by the sea, the sea laps at your door.We are never short of such scenery, only short of scenery with a bit more vitality.
On White Deer Plain, there are always stories and history you would never expect.
The auntie selling vegetables can sing northern Shaanxi xintianyou, the delivery guy carries a suona on him, the old man mending shoes by the roadside occasionally guest-stars as a shadow puppetry artist......
All of this, and my White Deer Plain,
is to tell you, don't forget,
the past is part of the future.
This is the beginning of inheritance and innovation.
If you are interested in his story
June 22, 2018 20:00
he will, on the lifestyle consumer investment platform
[Kaishiba]
launch the "White Deer Plain" crowdfunding project