Photo of the week: A village reinvents itself
A short bike ride from our house, one can find Hegezhuang Village. Many people know it because of its star attraction, The Orchard, a fabulous restaurant with excellent food, a charming atmosphere, and reasonable prices set in the middle of an apple orchard.
We went to HegeZhuang a couple of weeks ago for a village fair, and I was fascinated by the old world setting, which served as the backdrop to contemporary offerings targeted at foreigners. There were booths offering organic products – and tours of their respective farms – candles, Tai Chi lessons, handmade toys, and yoga.
We live in the suburbs of Beijing, where I understand many villages were bull-dozed over the past twenty years to make room for the city’s growth. We learned that HegeZhuang is aiming to stave off destruction by reinventing itself as a haven for foreigners. The effort is being driven by management of The Orchard, who probably hope to retain the restaurant’s serene village setting in the middle of an apple field.
It’s an interesting (but not new) dilemma. While it’s great that the village will remain, one has to wonder if it will be able to retain its quaint atmosphere. We met an Australian in the village square who pointed to an old village hall and said he hoped to convert it to a wine bar, and I have a friend who plans to move into one of the hutongs (traditional Chinese walled homes). She told me that the villagers will retain ownership of the completely renovated homes and receive modern places to live in exchange for letting others rent out these charming abodes.
As I rode my bicycle past a new designer mall the other day, which I understand is located on the grounds of what used to be another old village, I was grateful that HegeZhuang will be with us a bit longer. With the choice of destruction or gentrification, I prefer the latter, and it will be interesting to watch the village develop over the next year.
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4 comments
This post gives alot of food for thought. There is always something lost when a community “reinvents itself” and yet, if that doesn’t happen all can be lost.
Hi Bridget, I agree. On the one hand, I hate the idea of this village becoming an enclave for foreigners with fancy houses and wine bars. On the other hand, if it comes down to that or a new mall, I choose the former. It’s a dilemma all countries, cities, towns, and villages face, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
Interesting story – I guess that many places have to re-invent themselves for the tourists in order to survive – only what many picturesque country villages have done in the UK - no-one a hundred years ago would want to live in a pokey, draughty thatched cottage and now people travel miles to take photos of them.
The whole “gentrification” thing is such a double-edged sword in many cases. As Bridget points out, it is what saves at least something of the original place when it might otherwise be lost entirely to a parking lot or mega mall.
Eating in the middle of an orchard sounds pretty divine to me, though!