Getting away to it all

 

 

 

Waking up to a surround-sound of bird song, I stretch my body into yogic postures. My jog to the sea is joined by three gold retrievers, one terrier and Josephine, my hyperactive German shepherd. We are the only souls on this pristine beach. The dogs tempt me to frolic in the sea with them, but I focus instead upon my tai chi.

 

I breakfast on fresh fruit by the hammock under the old trees, followed by homemade buns, sweet potato/carrot/sweet corn congee, and herbal tea. All the food has been produced locally - with a food mileage of 100 meters or so. The ceramic bowl in my hand is older than my father, a museum piece fired in the village kiln opposite the stream. The hypnotic flavor of the tea comes not only from the fresh lemongrass and wild flowers thriving next to the tent, but also the fresh stream water running from a spring halfway up the hill.

 

Busily doing nothing is the guiding principle of my stay in this Eden. I sketch and paint the flora and fauna, hug the trees, tend the crops in the garden, harvest edible wild flowers, swim and sunbathe on the beach, meditate beside the murmuring stream, play my harmonica and drum to entertain the birds in return, and have a little nap by the pond after lunch.

 

The semi-deserted village is another big attraction. Once bustling with over two hundred residents, it is now home to a total of five - four of them approaching the age of 80. These friendly seniors smile all the time, grow their own food and go fishing every day. They share their gems of wisdom with me: the curing power of humble plants around the houses and along the footpaths, traditional culinary tips about how to make tea, soups, wines, dumplings, buns and desserts, as well as year-round gardening advice. It took us quite some months of sincere befriending before they accepted us into their community and allowed us to join them in their festive clan rituals (such as the kilin dance - a miniature version of the lion dance - over the Chinese New Year.

 

The highlight of the magic comes only after nightfall. With few lights in the village to interfere, I lie on my back in the pasture and gaze upon the stars. As I breathe in this scene of cosmic splendor, fireflies - neon-like stars in themselves - dance around me.

 

Back in my tent, I slip into my dreams again to the symphony of Nature complete with the enthusiastic performance of the birds, insects (with cicadas as leaders) and frogs.

 

This would be the kind of paradise I would love to retire to, or in which to take a break from the concrete jungle madness. After twenty years of searching, I have found my Eden on southern Lantau Island. I am proud of the place, and most grateful that I can share it with fellow nature-lovers.

 

Friends gather to devour my culinary efforts made up of freshly picked seasonal offerings from Nature. Pulling up carrots, digging up potatoes, and picking cherries, we found that tomatoes became our visitors' highlight event of the day. Friends who have been terrified of dogs, touched them for the first time. Kids, who take turning on the stove for granted, were fascinated to feed the giant open-air oven with dried twigs. We've had campfires, beach parties, and firefly adventure walks. The campus is ideal for retreats, training/team-building camps, and countryside workshops. The environment makes healing, fasting, body cleansing, meditation, yoga, qigong practicing and the like all the more rewarding. We enjoyed in particular those beach concerts, wedding and birthday parties, and anniversary celebrations with a difference.

 

Our family used to fly somewhere and spend a week or two together in exotic destinations every summer. We have stopped doing that, realizing that the planet cannot afford such extravagant high-carbon activities on a regular basis. While it is understandable that life inside such a gigantic pressure cooker like Hong Kong needs a break from time to time, and spending time in nature has tremendous benefit for our body and soul, it would be comforting to know that our well-deserved rest would not be at the expense of the planet's well being.

 

"I am now home again, as I rediscovered the power I am born with. I am ready for life's journey, and my footsteps are light," confided a visitor at the end of her stay. Perhaps next time you need to escape from the madness of Hong Kong, know that there are local spots like this just within your reach.

 

Dr Chau chairs LifeFlow and Produce Green Foundation. His email address: Simon317@gmail.com. Find out more about his get-away resort on Lantau at http://www.lifeflowhk.org/node/122

 

 

Green Living

By Simon Chau

 

 

 

(China Daily HK Edition 04/10/2010 page4,http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hkedition/2010-04/10/content_9710498.htm)