Twelve years since returning home: seeking a sanctuary amidst mulberry and chrysanthemum | Food Talk Vol.18

by Posted on

In this episode, the Food Talk host travels to Tongxiang, Zhejiang, accompanying Yu Jiangang—a young man who returned to his roots—to visit the village where he was born, raised, and has now returned. They explore the village’s final acre of Hangbai chrysanthemums and the biodiversity and Jiangnan culture that surround it, visit his home to see the process of rearing silkworms and reeling silk for handmade quilts, and taste freshly pickled mustard tubers…

Born into a farming family in Jiangnan, Yu Jiangang went to university and built a career in advertising at a renowned foreign firm—a path that seemed to lead directly to “success” in the conventional sense. Why, then, did he and his partner choose to return to the countryside to pursue ecological agriculture?

Yu Jiangang is something of an outlier among the young people returning to their villages. For him, the rhythms of rural life—rearing silkworms, reeling silk, harvesting and drying chrysanthemums—are a way of “affirming his identity”. He observes that in the eyes of the latest wave of returnees, the true value of the countryside is often drowned out by “louder” trends. How does he perceive the difference between himself and others who have returned? And what are the values he so steadfastly upholds?

Recently, issues surrounding land contracting and road widening have presented his family farm with unexpected challenges. What are his plans for the future, and can he find a new path toward his ideal of rural life? At a time when agricultural culture is increasingly becoming a subject for artists, what new experiments is Yu Jiangang planning?

Having previously shared his thoughts through writing, Yu Jiangang now shares his observations and reflections on returning home via the podcast.

Guest

Yu Jiangang

Born and raised in Zhenghebang, a silk-producing village in Jiangnan. After graduating from university in 2008, he worked in brand consultancy in Beijing. Driven by a concern for the “Three Rural Issues” (agriculture, rural areas, and farmers), he resigned in 2011 to intern at the Little Donkey Farm, followed by volunteer work in rural construction within Zhuang villages on the border between Guangxi and Vietnam. Upon returning home, he and his wife, Mei Yuhui, founded “Mei and Yu”, focusing on the production of fine craft silk quilts and the preservation of traditional skills. His aim is to revitalise the intangible cultural heritage of sericulture and create “new traditions”. He is also “Yugang”, one of the hosts of the podcast *Tuanli Jiegou*.

 

 

Hosts

Tianle

Founding editor of Foodthink and convenor of the Beijing Organic Farmers Market. As a “Fu Di Mo” (a Shanghainese native lurking in the capital), his greatest heartache is seeing the neighbourhoods of his childhood and the eateries of his youth transformed into trendy, social-media-driven hotspots; consequently, every trip home is fraught with a certain melancholy.

 

 

 

Wang Hao

Editor at Foodthink. In Yu Jiangang’s kitchen, he felt as though he had returned to the familiar warmth of his grandmother’s home.

 

 

 

 

The brand ‘Mei and Yu’ was created by taking a character from each of the names of Yu Jiangang and his wife, Mei Yuhui.
A glimpse into the biodiversity of traditional farming, from distance to foreground: mulberry forests, maize, rice, cotton, and Hangzhou white chrysanthemums.
Intercropping zha cai (pickled mustard tuber) beneath low-growing mulberry trees is a practice with over 90 years of history in Jiaxing, which led to the creation of the renowned Xieqiao zha cai production region.
When the silkworms are nearly ready to spin their cocoons, locals place them on mounts made from bamboo strips and straw, a practice colloquially known as ‘shang shan’ (going up the mountain).

“Mei He Yu” adheres to traditional handcrafted techniques to produce silk quilts. From planting mulberry trees and rearing silkworms to drying the silk, preparing the silk floss, and weaving the quilts, the couple behind Mei He Yu learn and practice each step as they go.
Beyond sericulture, “Mei He Yu” also maintains the ecological cultivation of the Hangzhou White Chrysanthemum, the official flower of Tongxiang. Due to a lack of economic value and the trend of large-scale land contracting, most villagers have abandoned the crop; this is now the last mu of Hangzhou White Chrysanthemums in the village.
Last year, Yu Jiangang even experimented with livestreaming his silkworm rearing process. For him, the practice of farming itself is perhaps the true meaning of returning to his roots.
You are invited to listen to the podcast “Tuan Li Jie Gou”, featuring Yu Jiangang, which is released regularly in accordance with the traditional solar terms.

Timeline

00:51 Many people still live in the countryside; what is rural life like in villages that haven’t been “hollowed out”?

02:04 Where does the obsession with “moving to the city” come from for rural dwellers? Even moving into an apartment block just one kilometre from home is considered “moving to the city”.

05:27 Field recording: The sound of elderly people chanting Buddhist prayers in a temple.

06:04 The pressure felt by young returnees within a “society of acquaintances”, where they were told from a young age to “find success in the city”.

08:11 From working in advertising in Beijing and Shanghai to returning home to raise silkworms and reel silk, how did Yu Jiangang choose a path against the current?

13:31 A year of commuting on the “green trains”, splitting time five days in the city and two in the village, using a diary to find balance.

15:07 The sudden idea to make silk quilts using traditional methods provided a new anchor for Yu Jiangang’s return to the countryside.

18:38 Field recording: Let’s go and “take a look” at Mei and Yu’s mulberry trees.

25:03 Integrating local agriculture with culture for synergistic development: from silk quilts to Hangzhou White Chrysanthemum and pickled vegetables.

26:25 A unique choice among young returnees: “I make these things simply to show who I am.”

35:47 Can a small-scale family farm sustain a livelihood? Why does Yu Jiangang prefer to call himself a “farmer doing odd jobs” rather than “half-farmer, half-something else”?

38:10 Is preserving agricultural traditions and applying for World Heritage status merely a “flash experience”, akin to modern people visiting a museum?

45:30 With the popularity of the “returning home” trend, the concept of the “countryside” has become complex. Is there hollow hype behind it?

50:31 “The countryside is my private sanctuary”: letting the city be the city, and the countryside be the countryside.

Click here to listen to this episode

Scan the QR code below

On Xiaoyuzhou | Ximalaya | Lizhi | Apple Podcasts

Subscribe to the “Food Talk” podcast

We welcome your comments on all podcast platforms; we will reply from time to time.

Scan the QR code below to add Foodthink’s alternative WeChat account. Please include the note “Food Talk” to join the listener community group.

Podcast Production Team

Coordinator: Xiaojing

Production: Xiaoputao

Cover Art: Wanlin

Music: Banong

Editor: Wang Hao

Contact Email: xiaojing@foodthink.cn

Published by Foodthink