Relax Among Rice Paddies and Ancient Houses

Push open the wooden door to find a courtyard enclosed by a bamboo fence half a person high. Vines creep up the green brick wall, and the rising steam from the hot spring pool merges with the mountain mist at the end of the rice paddies. This was my first impression of Sanhe Daoli. This property, converted from an abandoned village from the Republic of China period, lacks the hustle and bustle of traditional resorts and is more like a Lingnan living museum polished by time. Old Houses Reborn: Staying in the Folds of History The "Ancient House Family Loft Suite" where I was staying was converted from the village's old granary. In the 180m² space, the exposed wooden beams and cement walls create a collision of roughness and refinement. The room retains the high ceilings of the old house, and the carved wooden windows of the second-floor bedroom face the rice paddies. When I woke up to the sound of birds in the morning, it felt as if I could reach out and touch the rolling waves of rice. The biggest surprise was the private hot spring pool in the courtyard, which is fed by local metasilicic acid mineral hot spring water. Soaking in the pool and watching the stars is much more interesting than in an Internet-famous hot spring house. According to the butler, 17 of the 40 guest rooms are old houses that have been restored to their original state, and even the copper rust on the latches has been deliberately preserved. However, facilities such as underfloor heating and smart toilets are seamlessly integrated into the rooms. A Dining Revolution: Zero Distance from Rice Paddies to Palate The floor-to-ceiling windows of the all-day dining restaurant "You Tian" are like a giant viewfinder, framing the entire rice field into a flowing oil painting. Here, I tasted the most special breakfast of my life: soy milk with crispy fried Kowloon tofu, and Qingyuan chicken porridge sprinkled with freshly picked perilla leaves. Under the thatched roof of the Chinese restaurant "Micang", the Beijiang River fresh seafood casserole made me understand what "ingredient hegemony" means — the fish is so fresh and sweet that it doesn't need too much seasoning, and even the taro in the side dishes has the earthy aroma of the rice paddies. The waiter said that 80% of the ingredients come from within 3 km of the surrounding area, and even the rice is grown by the property itself. Mental Relaxation: Reading Poetry in the Livestock Pen and Working in the Fields The village's dilapidated livestock pen has now become the "Sanhe Academy", a library with 10,000 books. One afternoon, I curled up in a beanbag chair next to the rammed earth wall and finished half of "A Study of Lingnan Dwellings". When I looked up, the setting sun was dyeing the pages of the book the golden color of rice ears. An even more unexpected experience was digging sweet potatoes with the butler. My mud-covered fingers and crooked results were even more healing than the exquisite courses in the city. After staying here, my deepest feeling was the leisure and relaxation of escaping the city. When I looked at the photos on the way back, I found that the most touching were not the same old Internet-famous check-in photos, but the old farmers working in the morning mist and the tabby cat that suddenly visited the hot spring pool — these special encounters that were not planned are the true soul of Sanhe Daoli.