12 Years Since Returning Home: A First-Generation ‘Left-Behind’ Child Rebuilds Their Family with an Eco-Farm | Food Talk Vol.32
On a windy March day in Beijing, we sat down at the Foodthink office with Tang Liang, who had travelled from his farm in Sichuan, to look back on his twelve-year journey of returning to his roots.
Tang Liang was the first in his family to attend university. After graduating from the Department of Biological Sciences at Southwest University, he found a stable white-collar job. However, a few years later, he made an unusual decision: he gave up his city career and returned to his hometown in Jintang County, Chengdu, to establish the Liangliang Family Farm.
Starting with just a few mu of family land and eventually settling at around 30 mu, Liangliang Farm has become a model of the “small and beautiful” approach.
By balancing the needs of his family with the demands of the external market, Tang Liang employs a “pyramid” structure for ecological planting: at the top are economic crops like yellow ginger for sale; the base provides fresh fruit and vegetables for the household; and the middle layer—consisting of chillies, peanuts, and carrots—is flexible, used for both home consumption and sale.
Can such a small-scale ecological farm truly provide a stable and happy life for an extended family of eleven?
According to the family ledger Tang Liang shared in 2018, the average monthly income per person is approximately 2,000 yuan. While this may seem inconceivable to city dwellers, Tang Liang’s family has grown increasingly happy. This is due not only to the lower costs of elderly care and childcare in the countryside, but also to Tang Liang’s tireless efforts to bring the family together and resolve internal conflicts.
We also hear Tang Liang discuss his original motivation for returning home: he and his brother were once “left-behind children”, and he did not want the next generation to suffer the same fate. Over twelve years, a tiny plot has evolved into today’s Liangliang Farm, reuniting the entire clan and creating a warm, meaningful living space.
Beyond “living ecologically and uniting the ecological family”, Liangliang Farm is dedicated to building an ecological community. Tang Liang provides free educational courses for village children and has built public spaces, such as benches and a small square, inspiring others to bring vitality and energy back to the village.
As a farm mentor for Foodthink’s Ecological Agriculture Internship Programme, Tang Liang has already hosted two cohorts of interns. He also launched the Niujiaoyan Rural Life Partner Programme. Whether you wish to experience farm life or enter the field of ecological agriculture, Tang Liang’s advice for young people is worth hearing.
Listen to this episode to hear Tang Liang share his exploration of the meaning of life and the relationship between production and living. Let us return to our original intentions and put life at the centre.
Guest
Tang Liang
Born in the mid-80s, proprietor of Liangliang Farm. After working and studying at the Little Donkey Urban Farm and Sharing Harvest, he returned home in 2013 to found Liangliang Family Farm. He practises friendly farming, reunites rural families, and explores a way of rural living that stays close to the essence of life.
Host
Ze En
An editor at Foodthink who rarely hosts, to the point of forgetting to introduce himself in the programme. He feels particularly fortunate to have a job that allows him to travel and visit ecological farming friends across the country, hoping that this industry can go further and grow stronger.
Tian Le
Founding Editor of Foodthink and organiser of the Beijing Organic Farmers Market. A foodie who hopes to show full respect for food producers and labourers through his actions.
Timeline
02:43 Liangliang Farm produces ecological ingredients like yellow ginger and chilli powder for sale, while also growing its own fruit, vegetables, meat, and eggs to ensure self-sufficiency for the family’s dozen-plus members
05:40 Tang Liang’s family ledger: an average monthly income of 2,000 yuan per person. Friends in the city might ask, “How on earth can you survive on that?” yet Tang Liang and his family seem perfectly happy
07:04 With a degree in biology and experience working in the city, why did Tang Liang choose to return home to farm 12 years ago? He traces this back to his childhood, when his parents left for work and he and his brother became “left-behind children”… He explains that it is less about running a farm and more about managing a family
12:24 Returning home to start a farm with only 30,000 yuan—was that enough?
14:33 How did Tang Liang’s small farm gradually bring a scattered extended family back together? He also found a wife and now has lovely children
18:45 “Why can’t one live well in the countryside?” After over a decade, Tang Liang’s family members have each found their place on the farm, nourishing one another’s lives. The sense of value this provides cannot be measured by an average income of 2,000 yuan
25:13 At a time when many young people are discussing “cutting ties” with relatives, why does Tang Liang strive to reunite the extended family? How can a family be brought together while still allowing everyone their own independent space?
26:38 The secrets of Liangliang Farm: How to sell produce? Is it necessary to scale up production? What else can be done in the countryside?
35:51 Building an ecological community: Beyond agriculture, Tang Liang and his family provide free educational courses for village children and have built benches and a small square for the elderly to rest. They look after their own family while giving back to their village
40:27 As a mentor for Foodthink’s Ecological Agriculture Internship Programme, Tang Liang and his farm have hosted several young interns. What advice does he have for young people who want to experience farm life?
46:24 From one farm to many, and from one family to a community—what are Tang Liang’s hopes for the present and future?
54:13 “Put life at the centre; everything should serve life, and production should be no different.” Whether in the city or the countryside, we should all stop occasionally to reflect and return to our original intentions.
Scan the QR code below
On Xiaoyuzhou | Ximalaya | Lizhi | Apple Podcasts
Subscribe to the ‘Food Talk’ podcast
You are welcome to leave a comment on any of the podcast platforms; we will reply from time to time.
Scan the QR code below to add the Foodthink assistant’s secondary WeChat account. Please include the note “Food Talk” to join the listener community group.
Production Team for this Episode
Coordination & Production: Xiaojing
Cover Art: Wan Lin
Music: Banong
Editing: Ze En
Contact Email: xiaojing@foodthink.cn