Participants of Yinlin GAP Youth Sustainable Living, Personal Growth and Community Building Scheme
Learn to connect deeply with themselves in nature.
It takes one hour to drive to Yinlin Village from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province's largest city. Yinlin is now home to more than 20 households known as 'new villagers' who have moved from urban areas in search of a deeper connection with food, land and nature. They formed themselves into the Yinlin eco-community rooted in rural living, pursuing mutual help as well as an eco-friendly lifestyle.
One eco-community member, Daqiu, was a designer before she moved to Yinlin in 2016. Seeking a sustainable way of life, she now grows vegetables and runs traditional culture courses for her own growth, and for others' too. Xiaoqiu resigned from the philanthropic sector to come to Yinlin in 2023. She says the down-to-earth life grounds her and gives her strength, for herself and to support others. Maike shares similar stories and aspirations, and with the support of Guangdong Lingnan Educational Charity Foundation, our partner, the Yinlin GAP Youth Sustainable Living, Personal Growth and Community Building Scheme (GAP) was launched in 2023. Inspired by their personal experiences, the three members hope to support fellow youth who are motivated to make life changes. They hope to support them along their paths.
Lychee-themed exhibition held at the Yinlin Eco-Community.
GAP recruited youth from various places to attend a 5-day camp at the Yinlin eco-community. Participants learned about mindfulness practices for self-awareness and for forging deeper connections with nature. They interacted with the Yinlin community to hear life stories, explore life options, undertake farm-to-table experiential learning, and ask questions about self-determination and sustainable living. After the camp, participants joined a 21-day online journalling activity specifically designed by GAP to help youth reflect on their lifestyle and integrate their insights into everyday life.
This '5+21' learning activity may not be a long journey, but it has shed light on young people's quests for the meaning and essence of rural living that goes beyond the rural urban duality: they are also deliberating on life choices. Jiahui is one such youth. She joined the scheme in 2024, having found herself exhausted due to a life-work imbalance. When health problems were developing, she took a break for self-care. In 'A Day as a New Villager Activity', Jiahui began to examine her inner self and became more self-aware. At Yinlin, she met Uncle Hu the eco-friendly beekeeper, Ah Mu who uses natural yeast to make bread, Peng Cheng who practises natural farming, and a young farmer Xiaoqin who approaches farming as self-discovery. Their innovative ways of making a living in the eco-community and their ongoing self discovery convinced her of the possibilities and values of rural living. Jiahui decided to stay on and volunteer for three months after the camp, making eco-community maps, helping with farm work and joining community activities. Throughout, Jiahui felt so accepted and supported. Eventually, in 2025, she embarked on her own rural life, developing roots in a village in Anhui Province, gathering strength in her new home.
Participants of Yinlin GAP Youth Sustainable Living, Personal Growth and Community Building Scheme
work together at Pengcheng Natural Farm.
The arrival and participation of young people has brought new vitality to the Yinlin eco-community. The members now use Jiahui's community maps to introduce Yinlin to outsiders. They have been so inspired by the interactions with the GAP participants that they are considering introducing Yinlin life to urban and rural folk. At first, Daqiu, Xiaoqiu and Maike saw themselves as sustainable living practitioners, then as project team members. All in all, their visionary way of living has become the background, and backbone, of the eco-community. While nurtured by and exploring rural living, they have helped others to have the same experience.