[Lifestyle] B&Bs use their feet to measure urban culture

As a carrier of pursuit of essential life and mixed feelings of nostalgia, homestay is a resting place for people to empty their minds and pursue a peaceful and far-reaching pastoral life. It is a night stay with warmth and a house with soul.

A concerned look, a warm hug, and a bright smile warm up the cold city. He gives people the warmest imagination and the greatest tolerance for visitors. Many times we walk too fast on the way to pursue our dreams, and forget to stop and take a look at the scenery around us. After countless days of working day and night, we longed for a change of environment and mood, to feel the breeze of the Buddha face, the fragrance of the soil, to have fun in the fields without restraint, to feel the customs and cultural characteristics that are different from what we are familiar with. Compared with regular and “cold” hotels, B&Bs are more authentic and warm. There are such a group of people who spend all their time decorating their houses just to welcome guests from afar. They look forward to sharing their lives with guests, brewing a pot of tea, small groups of three or four, chatting all over the day.

A fusion of old and new

When we talk about Beijing Hutongs, we think of green brick walls, Beijing movies, and old cannons. Walking in the small alleys full of human touch, it seems that you can hear the slow voice of Master Liu, “What’s the matter, let’s eat stuffing today. “In the past, Beijing Hutong was famous for its three hundred and sixty-six, and the nameless Sai Niu Mao. It can be said that Beijing Hutong is the root of Beijingers, flowing with the original life feelings of old Beijing. If you don’t sleep in the Hutong in Beijing, you are not counted. Really experienced Beijing. Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer alleys in Beijing every day, and there are still a few alleys that have become tourist spots where foreigners are pulled by tricycles. But there are still some hutong cultures that are still relatively intact, and even department stores and shops still retain their childhood appearances, so that you can truly feel the old Beijing hutongs, the uncle walking the bird, the grandfather drinking Niu Er and playing chess, all at once. It brings you into the life of old Beijingers.

At the beginning, I heard that the boss is a pure Beijing man. When he was a “hutong stringer” since he was a child, he actually resisted a little in his heart. You must know that “Beijingers are arrogant, Beijingers are indifferent” is emotional Words often come to my ears. It wasn’t until I met him that I realized that he was like a “six master” in “Old Pao Er”, taking care of abandoned puppies, and exchanging tea with the uncle next door for eggs, with a straightforward personality, restrained and low-key. After getting acquainted with him, he told us his story. He started working in the financial industry, but he had enough of the rigid life of nine to five. Decided to give up the “practical and responsible” work and open this homestay that allows foreigners to experience Beijing’s Hutong culture.

The first feeling you get when you walk into the small courtyard is “comfortable”. There are cats dozing in the corner, dogs playing on the steps, goldfish swimming freely in the pool, wicker chairs warmed by the sun, everything is so Lazy and quiet, it blocks the impetuousness and hustle and bustle of the big city. In the small courtyard, there is a philosophy of hiding in the city. The predecessor here is an old Beijing courtyard. The building structure inside is not a quadrangle courtyard with several entrances and exits as we imagined, but an indoor alley designed around a winding and deep trail, with guest rooms distributed on both sides. Most of the houses are made of wooden structures, and the decoration retains the overall style of the old Beijing traditional courtyard house. The bathroom shared with the owner is simple and clean, and the kitchen has water for direct drinking, giving people a “home” feeling. Chinese-style wooden furniture, bed sheets and quilts are made of cotton and linen, which is more skin-friendly, and the room is equipped with an air purifier and humidifier. You are destined to have a good dream tonight. Putting down my luggage, under the guidance of the boss, I tasted Beijing dishes in the restaurants they usually go to, such as fried liver, noodles with mixed sauce, fried belly, and braised stew. It may be because most of the people who come here are old Beijingers. So the taste is very pure.

There is also a terrace on the top of the building. Sitting here drinking beer and watching the people coming and going on the road, the boss told me, “I usually give some suggestions to the residents, such as how to take a car, where to buy porridge, and where is worth visiting. Sometimes I drink tea and chat with the residents in the yard, sometimes I get together to learn paper-cutting, sometimes I get together to eat hot pot, sometimes I accompany them to wander in the alleys, and tell them about Beijing at that time. I hope It will allow them to have more exchanges with the city, feel the Beijing culture better, and let the wandering people have a ‘home’ to return to.” The first ray of sunlight shone into the room the next morning, and the parrot raised by the boss had already woken up Come and yell “Eat it!, Eat it!”, making everyone laugh and making the whole small courtyard full of vigor and vitality.

Because a room falls in love with a city

Falling in love with a city is not only because of the beautiful scenery in front of you, but also because of its temperament in the bones, which fits people’s emotional demands. Stefanie Sun sang in the song “A Perfect Day”: “I want a big house with big floor-to-ceiling windows. The sun shines on the floor and warms my quilt…” Big house, warm quilt, backed by mountains and facing the lake , the room is full of sunshine, how many times I fantasize that I can be in such a small house, facing the sea, praying for the warmth of spring and the blooming of flowers.

After the meeting, I have a lot of time, and I have two days of free time for activities. Because it is the first time I come to Hangzhou, I chose this hotel with a high occupancy rate on Airbnb after being recommended by a friend who has traveled all over China alone. homestay. This is the holiday villa area near the Xixi Wetland. Walking in, it gives people a sense of tranquility like a paradise. From time to time, there will be squirrels in the forest. The quiet lake surface will instantly let the fatigue of the journey disappear. The room is transparent and bright, with elegant arched design, exquisite chandeliers, cute elk, full of rich European low-luxury style, fully satisfying girls’ romantic fantasies about Europe. There are only two rooms in the house, one of which is lived by the landlords themselves. There is an independent bathroom in the room to avoid the trouble and inconvenience of sharing, but there are no toiletries and slippers in the room. The room locks are all coded locks. After you have successfully processed the check-in information, you can set the unlocking code on your mobile phone, which is safe and reliable. The landlord is a young couple who were born and raised locally, and this is their home, so if there are any problems during the accommodation, they will help to solve them in a timely manner, which is very convenient.

Knowing that it was my first time here, I enthusiastically offered to drive me to the city center for a walk. We chatted and shared many interesting experiences with each other along the way. Both of them love to travel and have traveled all over the mountains of the motherland. Mountains and rivers, so I am also eager to communicate with more friends about the scenery I have seen and the feelings of travel. Opening the home in Hangzhou as a homestay is mainly to meet some friends who love to travel and have positive energy. Every corner of the room is designed by the host himself, and every decoration is jointly selected by them. The male host loves cooking, and the hostess has been a food lecturer, so she wants to connect her hobby with life. After a short day, when we returned home, the hostess brewed a pot of Longjing tea for me. She said: “Teas are produced in Hangzhou. Hangzhou people love tea more, and their requirements for tea are even more demanding. I planted it myself, absolutely authentic, the water used to make tea is spring water, and it tastes extremely sweet.”

find a house, change the story

What is travel? If you just look at a landmark building or historical relic in a certain place, at best you have a general understanding of the vague appearance of an unfamiliar city. Although it allows you to quickly scan the characteristics of a region, it cannot let you experience a more comprehensive experience. diverse culture. The travel I understand is a state of walking, watching, listening, and talking. It is a dynamic and positive experience of humanistic feelings. It is a time when you assume yourself as a local and are brought into a corner of life. Try again. On the way of travel, it is the process of encountering the unknown and challenging yourself. Because of the warm hut, the landlord with different personalities, and various topics, it becomes colorful and powerful.

I don’t know how many times I have come to Shanxi, because my best friend is in Shanxi, so we agreed to visit Pingyao together on May 1st. The biggest charm of Pingyao is that it is not a dead landscape with one scene and one flower, but that it is a living existence with fresh breathing, a continuation of another form of “past” in “present”, “Shangximen , Xiaximen”, “North Calabash Lane”, “West Lake View Street”, “Yamen Street” and “Chenghuangmiao Street”, these ancient neighborhood names. “Jin Yuan Heng”, “Synergical Celebration”, “Heng Long Tai” and “Bai Chuan Tong” are still alive in the daily life of citizens. Because of the rush of time and the peak tourist season of “May 1st”, it is very difficult to find a place to stay. Finally, we found a homestay with room availability on Qunar. We were still thanking God for being so lucky. , the next second we were crying because we couldn’t find the way. Because the B&B is located in a secluded alley in the ancient city, the landlord is an elderly aunt who speaks Mandarin with Shanxi dialect, which is not very clear, and does not know how to use the positioning system, so we are in It took more than two hours to go around in the ancient city before I found the address of the B&B.

This is a typical courtyard house with a large sycamore tree planted in the courtyard, which is antique. Opening the door, I was greeted by a strong smell of paint, and I couldn’t help but frown—this homestay should have just been renovated, and the windows are too small, and the door is often locked, so the smell naturally dissipates much slower. Fortunately, the furnishings in the room are unique, which gives me some comfort. The interior restores the ancient style of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with ink painting style wallpaper, blue and white porcelain tea sets, exquisite carvings, wooden tables and stools and stairs, earth kang with Shanxi characteristics, traditional embroidery style bedding, a combination of classic and fashion. My friend and I put down our luggage and found the landlord, wanting to ask if breakfast is provided for the next day. The landlord said: “It is clearly written on the listing that no breakfast is provided.” Because we are not familiar with the roads and we are exhausted, we hope that the landlord can provide us with some simple breakfasts. We can pay an additional fee, or tell us the nearest place to eat. “We can’t provide you with food.” The landlord said blankly. And told us that there is no hot water after 10:00 p.m., bath towels cannot be taken out of the bathroom, and cannot be used to wipe off the body, and the door will be closed at 11:00 o’clock…every detail of the request makes people feel a sense of restraint .

epilogue

Every homeowner has a unique and interesting soul, and the longer each homestay is built, the more it resembles its owner. Every homestay has a reason for you not to leave, maybe it is a bed that makes you feel that life is complete when you lie down, or it may be a small or small window that is isolated from the world. In the past, we were just looking for a place to live, but now we want to measure the culture of this city with our feet and find it in a strange city.