"成都人"are famous for their laid-backness. Thus Chengdu as a city is traditionally known for its numerous tea-houses, restaurants, and food stands. In recent years, as the economy advances, the 成都 entertainment industry now has many new members, such as massage places（按摩，中医理疗,足疗）, Karaoke, and "peasant home stay"--农家乐。
农家乐 is not an unfamiliar concept to me. It's said to originate from Sichuan and now exists all over China. Close to Nanjing, there is a village that specializes in growing grapes.
When I was in Middle School, I remember going there with family. We picked grapes and enjoyed home-made food in a peasant's family. Food was made in the big peasant's wok(土灶）and thus tasted much better. In my memory, that experience was a typical "农家乐"。This time, the "San Shengxiang[三圣乡]" version of 农家乐 exceeded my expectation.
Before going to experience first-hand the reputed Chengdu 农家乐，I did some research. I asked a bunch of local 成都人. To my great surprise, almost all of them have been to a 农家乐site and can name several major sites around the city. Interestingly, these sites usually have their distinguished features. For example, one county is famous for its peaches, thus we can go in the Spring to enjoy the blossoms, in the summer to enjoy picking peaches! Another one is known for its pears. Another for flowers.. [P.S. note these locals I asked all have a stable job and do not worry too much about survival] In contrast, in Nanjing, there is not much choice and somehow not so popular.
The New Year is a public holiday and most people get three days off. (元旦放假)Thus I dragged a couple locals to accompany me to a 成都农家乐。Considering the season, we decided to go to 三圣乡[note, 乡is an administrative unit, below 县county,parallel with 镇town, above 村village ] for its 腊梅 festival. 腊梅[梅means plum,腊means the last month of the lunar year] is a tree that blossoms in the winter and smells incredibly sweet.
We took a direct bus from downtown and arrived at 幸福梅林[Plum forest of happiness] after 45 minutes. Getting off the bus, I immediately bumped into many smiling people holding 腊梅branches. We kept walking and soon saw a huge banner that writes"三圣乡腊梅节".
Then we saw a huge lake and a "tourist reception corridor". On the lake there float many little Cartoon boats with families and a funny kind of "water wagons" for kids.
I suddenly realised this is not a traditional peasant home stay that I imagined. This is a carefully designed and marketed industry. It has become the major industry for the whole 三圣乡。
三圣乡 has five villages in business and each has its features[see the map].幸福梅林，东篱菊园[chrysanthemum]，幸福梅林 is the one that we actually got to cover in a couple of hours. Entrance is free. we in fact just enjoyed the scenery and fresh air and didn't spend a cent. Besides, we learned different kinds of 梅花 in 梅花知识长廊[梅花knowledge corridor]
, saw a mini-traditional paintings exhibition.Farmers turned their homes to restaurants. They typically provide Majiang麻将，tea, and food. Some have Ping pong tables and badminton. Their charges vary greatly. The cheapest place we found charges 10 Yuan for a majiang table for a whole day. [Of course you would want to buy drinks.] A meal could charge, 6,8,10 yuan depending how well you want to eat.
Other places could charge 15,20,30 for a meal. There is no price standardization for all individual peasant homes. Some farmers collaborate and provide a better environment and more service. Some live further from the center and the place is not usually furnished thus charge a lot less.Probably because it was a public holiday, there are just so many people everywhere. Some streets are even crowded with cars. According to the locals, this is not unusual at all. Since it's very close to downtown, many people come here over the weekend for fun. Older people can have tea and play Majiang. Kids can play the water wagon or just run in the fields. I personally was amazed by the organized. The whole area is very 热闹[bustling with activities is the closet translation I got]. On the streets there are numerous little stands with stuff I enjoyed when I was young, such as foot-stepped cotton candy, fresh-made rice nut candy, soft tofu on shoulder-pole, little hand-made windmill, etc[see photos].
For a while they disappeared from the streets as the city expands and modernises.
Now they are coming back with great popularity! [I later observed this phenomenon in other places as well].Moreover, you can ride a horse for 10to15yuan, buy a 腊梅花necklace for 2 yuan, or buy some fresh vegetables from local farmers.
No wonder Chengdu 农家乐 is so famous. It is really well-done! I later learned that Chengdu government is way advanced in the country in terms of their effort to promote 城乡一体化[urban-rural merging together]. It has the national experimental district of urban-rural-plan-as-a-whole reform 统筹城乡综合配套改革试 验区。Such peasant home stay is a successful model. Peasants can stay at home and earn a decent income. Urban residents can have enjoy "Eco-tourism" just close by.
Disclaimer: there are worries that 农家乐pose dangers to agriculture[a local friend has seen TV programs on this issue]. Since land for 农家乐 still counts for agricultural usage in national statistics. Thus if 农家乐develops too much, the country would not know how much arable land has lost. It is definitely a problem. In one 农家乐village in sichuan, the village head guarantees enough land for rice whatsoever. That is a leader with vision. But unfortunately it's not happening everywhere.
However, it's important to note that if this village doesn't develop 农家乐 themselves the real-estate companies will come take their land sooner or later. This has happened so much for recent decade. Then who will take care of those peasants with no land?
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