Shaxi - Horsepen 46

2018

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Invited by Carol WOO Po Kuen​

Horsepen 46, 46 Sideng Street, Shaxi, Dali County, Yunnan, China

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For two weeks, Sinta & I had our first exploration in Shaxi, a small village in Yunnan, the rural part of China, that exists of an old town with walking streets, a central square, a market, surrounded by farming fields. The small population exists of an older generation of local farmers, cultivating tobacco, rose, vegetables, fruits, picking mushrooms and a younger generation of crafts people, attracted to the lifestyle of working with hands, food, tea and hostel keepers for the growing number of tourists. We hope that the government is not going to promote and develop Shaxi into a touristic attraction for economical reasons as they did with Dali and Lijang, previously, ruining the pace and scale of life for the locals, invaded by external operators. 

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Carol, our host and also a festivalmaker, is actively taking care of the work-life & economy-ecology balance in activities, and it is in her rhythm and dispersal of attention, that we also find a connection of not making work speed up life, but integrate work as part of life, not dominating or pushing or imposing itself to everything and everyone. We visited farms, neighbourhoods, market, other hostels, the forest, the temples and environment to get a sense of how the slower pace and smaller scale of living, truly gives connections to everyone and everything around, people, pets, plants, pathways...

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The day before we leave, we invited the people we've met over the time of our stay to gather for another [watch & wa/onder] walkshop. Please find a description of the experience, noted down by Mu Xiaoliu, one of the Horsepen staff who observed us during the walkshop in Chinese here.

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