The project “Jiao Yuan” is the studio and new home for Mr. Li and Ms. Wu. The couple looked forward to plain, simple rural life after engaging in hotpot business for years. They finally found the plot in a suburb of Chongqing to use it as their house and a base to cultivate the pepper and wild pepper varieties from places all over the world. Besides, they have made the areas around the house become their favorite rice fields. They came to their good friends, Xie Ke and two architects, Li Jun and He Biao, to jointly build the rural residence, a house surrounded by rice fields. 

According to Ms. Wu, when she was a graduate working at rural area, the rural residences in Sichuan and Chongqing usually put some stools in the yards. People stayed beneath large trees in summertime to enjoy the cool, waving their fans, listening to cicada sounds, and feeling relieved. If it rained, they moved to places under the roofs to peel off corns and broad beans……the happy moments are unforgettable. Nowadays, the old articles in her home can easily arouse her memories and feelings. 

Gold memories can be found here. They fall from the partitions of the bedrooms, living room, and yard, being lines, blocks, or inverted images. They disappear and appear, leaving some warm signs on the floor, roof, or furniture. 

Xie Ke is found of natural colors and materials, such as woods, washed stones, linen, and folk articles. These colors and materials respond to the sceneries of four seasons. If the camera is zoomed out, the tone is very simple without any saturated article. However, it is suitable for green moss, yellow leaves, brown stones, and blue fog. 

Most of the furniture is from YIJI Collection. With simple appearances, the furniture highlights gentle, coarse, or soft experiences……[Comfort] is the top priority of the home as well as Xieke’s understanding of [the way of hospitality]. He hopes that both the host and guests can get fully relaxed and be spontaneous by staying here. 

The couple stay here during the whole summer and autumn. They feel quite comfortable by doing rural farming and feeding chickens and ducks. After harvests, they pick peppers for flower arrangement. Peppers are used as foods and ornaments in the home with abundant vitality and funs. Sometimes, they go fishing and invite their friends for dinners. After that, they go for a walk in nearby forest. At dusk, they go back home to get warm and kill time quietly. 

There is a beautiful phrase in Chinese calligraphy, water stains on the wall. It comes from the dialogue between calligraphers Yu Huaisu and Yan Zhenqing. “I found that the calligraphy is like clouds in summer, flying birds, frightened snakes, or cracked walls. They are natural.” “How about water stains on the wall?” Huaisu stood up and grasped Yan’s hands and said: “I got it.” In this way, you may feel different when seeing the rain, damaged pottery pots under roofs, and leaves in the pool again.