It’s been a long break from writing. Since then, we’ve had quite a time. I tried to write in 2023, but found myself still too angry to write reasonably. Now, things are improving and I see light again, so here is an update.
In late 2021, Chinese car tourists started showing up and camping in the Genong Valley, along the river and the road, in great numbers. They would pee and poop in our yard within view of the house. They would get angry when told coffee seating was outside only. A few times, random people even entered our private apartment and used the toilet while we were out. They’d insist on coming into the yard and flying drones, even when we asked them not to. The only way to deal with them seemed to be to be rude. It was a horrible madhouse, particularly in 2022, when many other beautiful places in China were closed for pandemic reasons. It was also pretty bad in 2023. And finally, in 2024, it started to calm down.
This was an internet-fueled craze, as well as pandemic-fueled. Like many places in the world, camping and the outdoors became more popular during the pandemic. But there were special realities about China that made it more intense. Mainly, this was not a group of people who actually enjoyed outdoor activities, but it was a fashion to take a photo of oneself in a pretty place with some cool outdoor equipment like tents and cooking stoves, wearing nice clothes. The internet influencer economy in China was (and is) particularly strong. Also, the Chinese tend to like to go where there are many other people, to be sure to go to “the best place” and not miss out — these characteristics of course exist around the world, but in other places they are tempered by people’s unwillingness to be crowded, nor to be seen as unoriginal “complete followers.”
I had to think hard how to deal with this influx, and not lose the soul of the project we’ve worked many years to create. I wanted people to engage with the place and culture and each other, and to care for it, instead of taking what one could with no regard or respect. We were popular and viral in China, so we had a lot of leeway. People wanted to come and would accept whatever scheme we might come up with.
First, we tried requiring guests wanting to book a room to take a hike with us as part of the deal. That was terribly uncomfortable. Many guests were completely unaccustomed to being off the road. Their discomfort made us uncomfortable too. Then we tried requiring no phone use in the main room — I remember three poor guests staring hopelessly ahead, asking, “What do you DO if you don’t look at your phone?” (I tried introducing them to a card game, but everything felt forced.)
We tried full digital detox, where people would turn in their phone on arrival. This didn’t work — they just tricked us by handing in an extra or dead phone. We tried requiring that everyone did an hour of volunteer work — this was on the right track actually, but a bit time-consuming for us. Finally, we hit on 2-night stays. That helped but not completely — many guests would still come and do their intensive photo-taking schedule at tourist sites, exhausting us by arriving very late and leaving extremely early each day. Then we moved onto 2-night minimum stays and included workshops, tours, hikes, and horse rides. Of course, it’s not required to participate, but since guests are paying for these, they usually do partake. This has somehow made all the difference.
Since then, we’ve collected guests based in China who love what we do. It feels purposeful, because these are people searching for meaning and connection, something to care about, and we love to support them and are supported in return by them. And slowly, in 2024, foreign travelers have also started coming back. So, very slowly, we are getting back the things we most loved about this work: diversity, engaging people and conversation, and a creating an atmosphere of warmth and liveliness.