A Trip to Dajiangli Farm

Mar.16, 2014            Overcast              Sunday

      We five families (altogether 19 people, parents with kids) came to Dajiangli Farm, which was situated by the famous Liuxi River in Conghua, for an outing. We set out at 9 am, drove one and a half hours and arrived at the destination.

When we got off the car, we were immediately fascinated by the beautiful buildings of the farm—an array of attached Chinese-style cottages. On one of the cottage doors wrote the name of the place—Shengyinghui Life Posthouse（盛盈汇生活驿站）accompanies by a couplet in artistic Chinese calligraphy, creating a cultural atmosphere. We soon found that the farm is located in a remote small village. Not many people were in sight and the quietness of the place overwhelmed us.

The person who received us was the Farm Director Mr. Long. He was quite young—around 30 years old—and handsome. When the kids met him, they immediately associated this person with the village head in the popular TV program called Where Are We Going, Dad? and called him Cunzhang (village head). We were amused! The kids started to bombard the director with all kinds of requests which were so noisy that Mr. Long had to cover his ears now and then.

The director then decided to show us around the farm first. He told us that the farm is on a peninsula along Liuxi River. You would not be aware of its being on a peninsula if not told by someone. This immediately aroused our interest. Although the farm is only 80 mu, it is neatly designed. On the way, Mr. Long introduced to us how they managed the farm and how they took care of the vegetables. The vegetables in view were so lovely that some of us expressed a wish to buy some of the vegetables and bring them home. The vegetables grown here looked smaller and uglier than those we usually buy from the market in the city. I knew that they were naturally grown and were healthier. One of the mothers was excited when she saw some small holes in the vegetable leaves because this shows that no or little pesticide was applied on those vegetables. According to Mr. Long, the fertilizer they used was chicken wastes, which was the best among all fertilizers. Then we discovered a small patch of tomato field, where the plants hung both red and green tomatoes. We know that the tomato is one of the healthiest foods, so we told the director that we would buy off those red ripe tomatoes (we were lucky because some other tourists who came after us had the same wish but unfulfilled.) Then we were led to a big shed where some vegetable seeds were being grown into young plants before they were to move out into the open fields. They produce two types of vegetables: green vegetables and organic vegetables.

While the adults were following the director and listening to his introduction, the kids were having their own activity—cycling along the paths in the fields (they brought their own bicycles). They would constantly stop to observe things in the fields and share some of their findings, their knowledge and their opinions with the adults. Although their clothes and bag were dotted with mud, they had great fun!

Then it’s lunch time. We were ushered into the backyard, which was above and by the river and covered with trees. The tables were place inside pavilions—one pavilion for one table. Almost all the materials used for the appliances here were taken from the nature. The tables were constructed with bricks, the fuel used for cooking was charcoal and the chairs were made of bamboos. When we arrived, there was already charcoal burning inside the big hole in the middle of the table.

Soon a big pot was carried over and put on the hole—the stove. Inside the pot were fish, bean curd and radish. The steam rising from the pot covered our faces. Our appetite was immediately aroused. It’s a big fish, about 3 kilo, and was very delicious, because it was fed with the clean water from Liuxi River. After we finished the food from this pot, another pot was carried over with chicken meat in it accompanied by river snails and mushrooms. The chicken was about 2kilos and the meat was so delicious that we all appreciated it with the highest regards. The pity was it was too much and no matter how hard we tried we could not eat it up. Finally we ate a lot of equally delicious vegetables.

While the adults tried hard to eat up the food, the kids seemed to be more interested in playing and ate very little. One of the kids even took some fish and chicken to feed the dogs. At this, my son was not happy and came over to report this to the adults. Soon they scattered like birds and absorbed themselves in their own games in the front yard.

In the backyard there was a huge old waxberry tree, on which a big flock of birds gathered twittering happy songs as if to welcome the guests. What a scene!

Now it’s time to take a boat ride along Liuxi River. The boat is not big and can hold about only 20 people and is sheltered. It was a thrill to find that the seats on the boat were soft sofa! Strange, unlike the other boats we used to take, there was no exhaust emission from this boat. The driver told us that the motor was driven by electricity, that’s why it’s so clean. The driver was a middle-aged man. He turned the wheel slowly and casually, as if it was a piece of cake for him. When we drove out into the middle of the river, we were amazed at the beautiful scenery around us. First was the cleanness of the water. The color of the water was as green as that of a flawless green jade, so pure, so clean. Second was the clearness of the water. Although the weather was overcast, we could still see clear reflections of the trees and bamboos in the water, forming thrilling pictures of the nature. Both the adults and the kids took out their cameras and started to shoot pictures crazily, exclaiming along. The scenery resembles and even surpasses that of Lijiang River of Guilin! The parents encouraged the kids to use some Chinese idiomatic expressions to describe the beautiful scenes that came into their eyes. One of the kids begged the driver to let him drive the boat for a try, but the driver bargained by requiring the kid to speak out three idioms before he could have a try. Finally the kid was disappointed.

The ride lasted only half an hour. Although it was short, it was very impressive. Now it’s time to cycle along the greenway, which was on the other side of the river. The majority of us participated. As could be imagined, the kids took the lead. They rode so swiftly that they soon disappeared, leaving the adults far behind. The fathers were very worried, shouted warnings after them and hurried to catch up with them for fear that there would be danger. We mothers relaxed ourselves and rode slowly behind. We could not ride fast because the seat of the bicycle was too low, which made the riding exhausting. We had to pause now and then to catch our breath. The scenery along the way was equally thrilling. As the greenway was along the river, we could admire the river scenes again from different angles. On the other side of the greenway were vegetable fields, where only a few people could be seen working in the fields. The vegetables took on a natural and lovely look. We also came across some chickens that were looking for food in the reaped rice field. Seeing those chickens, my friend’s mouth watered. If the owner of those chickens was in sight, she could have begged the owner to sell one chicken to her. How lovely she was!

The greenway was short but we would ride a longer distance, so we drove onto the car way. We thought that there must be a bridge not far ahead to take us back but disappointed. It turned out that there was another 10 km ahead before we could get to another bridge, so we had to return by the same route. On our way back, the kids found a dry area on the riverbed and decided to have some fun there. The kids picked up thin cobblestones and threw them across the river surface to make the stones skip over the water. The one who could make the most skips with one throw would be the winner. My son was good at this, because he had tried many times before. They had great fun. While the kids were playing by the river, the parents stayed high above by the path, chatting. Now it’s time to ride on. Close to the farm, there was a beautiful bridge with beautiful reflections in the water. Several mothers including me lagged behind and posed for pictures.

When we came back to the farm cottage, we found the kids had already gathered on the ground of the front yard and were swallowing down snack food—they were hungry. No wonder because they ate too little at lunch and the cycling exhausted their energy. After the stomach was filled, the kids were recharged and started to play badminton and throw magnetic arrows at the target.

It’s four o’clock in the afternoon, and it’s time to get ready to leave. Of course, nobody would leave without taking something home. So each family caught a chicken from the farm, bought the tomatoes and received a bag of vegetables as a gift. We had to wait some time because we would have all the bought chickens killed before leaving. So we waited and waited, watching the kids playing on and chatting. When the chickens were ready, we began to pay. Each family paid 150 yuan for the tour, 88 or 118 yuan for the chicken and 45 yuan for the bag of tomatoes of 4.5 kilos. Everything settled, we thanked the director, said good-bye to him and hit the road back.

How wonderful a day it was!

（有感而作以下拙诗，喜欢朴实、乡土味）

流溪吟唱

船行流溪上，

清波微荡漾；

倒影树婆娑，

碧玉来镶嵌。

寂静听山谷，

微风轻拂面；

鸟鸣一二声，

神清气又爽。

乡土饭菜

才尝流溪wan，

又品走地鸡，

柴火来烧饭，

馨香熏醉鼻。

游蔬菜园

菜园走一圈，

泥土飘芬芳；

忽闻粪肥味，

千万别紧张。

没有鸡屎臭，

哪有菜花香？

{附：农场主阿龙（13580442066，微信kim512126com）

从化区良口镇大江里农场（盛盈汇生活驿站）(导航：大江里农庄或大江里桥)

钦佩这个年轻有为献身有机、无公害农产品的农场主}