FORMER DIPLOMAT HARVESTS A NEW LIFE

A long-awaited heavy rain is moistening the dry and thirsty red earth beneath his feet. Patrick Nijs couldn't hold back his joy."I feel that my land and crops are very happy," he says. Those thirsty corn sprouts have had their share of "drinking" at last.

Just three weeks ago, Nijs insisted on planting 150 eggplant seedlings despite opposition from a trusted friend. However, they almost got completely wiped out due to drought. This compelled him to appreciate more the wisdom of Chinese farmers, and especially take note of the 24 divisions of the solar year in the traditional Chinese calendar.

Nijs, 70, is a former Belgian ambassador to China, a lifetime honorary ambassador, and co-founder of the EU-China Joint Innovation Center. Seven years ago, he gave up the opportunity to go to Turkey to continue his diplomatic career, and returned to his wife Deng Minyan's home area, a copper-depleted city called Dongchuan in Southwest China's Yunnan province. The city is known as the "World Mudslide Natural Museum". In the vast mountains and plateaus, the couple started to explore sustainable agriculture, and live a quiet life of sunrise and sunset.

Nijs now spends all his time in the field sowing, weeding, composting, watering and picking.

Occasionally, he also chats with friends in the village. Farmer Li Guanghe, 68, is his best friend in the village, and they often farm together, eat, drink, and even smoke cigars together. But sometimes, the two can be at loggerheads on matters agricultural.

"Nijs would get angry because of Li using plastic film and applying fertilizer. He feels that this will damage the soil structure and pollute the groundwater. Li believes we would not have a harvest unless we planted crops like this," Deng says. She was often at a loss whether to cry or to laugh over their disputes. However, the two always quickly reconciled.

In the fall, Nijs reaped a healthy harvest of melons and beans after using the ecological planting method. Li lavished praise on him:"Yo, it's not bad for you to cultivate like this."

For the past seven years, Nijs has been integrated into the rural life of Yunnan.

"Now, even if I go out occasionally, I can't wait to go back to the countryside. I love the plants, birds, insects, and everything here," Nijs says. In Dongchuan, he can see the stars, hear the sound of animals, or the cheers and whispers of thousands of blooming flowers in spring, a cordial symphony of wild nature.

There are still many friends and relatives who are puzzled as to why this Belgian settled and farmed in China.

Nijs recalled that when he was a child, he visited many exhibitions about China. At the age of 18, he was caught up in the world of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching."I felt that my previous life must have been in China," he says.

"In 2010, the first time I came to Yunnan, I fell in love with it. Yunnan is like a magical combination of my birthplace, Africa and China. I think I am able to fulfill my rural dream here."

The outbreak of COVID-19 did impact on their rural idyll.

"Even in our remote village, there were staff helping with the checking in and out. During the epidemic, I attended a funeral in a neighboring village and was tested several times for my temperature, and the villagers did not treat me as a foreigner," Nijs says.

Nijs cherishes the sustainable agricultural business in Dongchuan as his own spiritual exploration and practice. In Yunnan, more and more young people are coming to him to exchange ideas about reviving the countryside.

"Look, this is the parsley I brought back from Belgium. It's like me, happily growing here," Nijs says.