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Rural communities are becoming sparse - In many places around the world, like this creepily resurrected village in Japan, young people have abandoned the countryside for the city, and those with knowledge of the land are dying out.

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City life is tiring people out - So much so, in fact, that there exists a mock prison in South Korea where people pay around US$90 per day to surrender their belongings, submit to strict rules, and stay locked in a cell.

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So some have decided to flee the cities -

In the case of Another Community, a rather young bunch (mostly in their early thirties) are ditching the city life and seeking out a much slower pace in a reclusive, mountainous part of southeastern Fujian province, about a two hours’ drive from the capital, Fuzhou.

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Started by Tang Guanhua and his wife Xing Zhen -

According to the South China Morning Post, the couple witnessed pressure on resources increase, personal space diminish, and housing prices multiply, so they took off in 2015 to an overgrown plot of land on which they had to do everything from scratch.

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It’s not political -

Members of Another Community are influenced by environmental and holistic ideals, similar to the monastic Taizé fraternity in France, the ZEGG ecovillage in Germany, and the Tamera peace-research village in Portugal.

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The goal is to be free from societal pressures and expectations - They aimed to create a place where people can live a life they actually want—and to give people a chance to explore what that might be, without constantly being told what it "should" be.

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Self-sufficiency -

Largely inspired by British environmentalist John Seymour's 'The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency' (1976), Another Community aims to live in harmony with nature, and to be self-sufficient regarding electricity, food, clothing, soap, etc.

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The 202-hectare plot is funded by the Zhenro Foundation -

The lease for the commune’s land is 200,000 yuan, or about US$29,000, a year, and is paid for by a foundation committed to advancing society by supporting innovative environmental projects.

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Sustainability and organic farming -

None of the commune members had farming experience, but they’ve learned how to harvest different vegetables, observe the weather, assess the soil, and much more.

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Learning a whole new set of skills -

Members enrolled in classes to study things like agriculture, forestry cultivation, natural farming, sewing, and how to safely work with electricity.

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One of the hardest parts is making clothes -

A shirt reportedly takes about two weeks to make, which doesn’t include the time needed to plant, grow, and harvest kudzu, a fast-growing vine. The fiber is then spun into thread, woven into textiles, and then sewn to become a wearable garment. 

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One of the hardest parts is making clothes -

Xing, who had previously worked a 9-5 job in an office, set up a studio on the ground floor of a rented farmhouse and installed three looms that she built from scratch.

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Food is also a challenge -

Members still buy things like rice from a nearby organic farm, and they rely on store-bought sauces and meat, which are purchased with savings or donations. They do, however, brew their own herbal liquor.

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They have their own running water -

After disputes arose from using a neighboring village’s well, they dug out their own well next to a swampy stretch of meadow.

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Inner change is the goal of their outer change -

Former software developer Yang Zhaoyu (pictured, foreground) said the most important thing about the lifestyle is not whether you live in the city or the countryside, but rather about the change you make in your heart.

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They are naturally progressive in thought -

Liu Peilin is a transgender resident in her sixties who is welcomed at Another Community, but facing discrimination elsewhere. Members of the commune put up posters in the neighboring Guandong village, campaigning against discrimination towards her.

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They gave up small luxuries -

Not many would think of a toilet as a luxury, but flushing water compared to a hole in the ground—with burnt ash occasionally thrown in to cover the smell of feces—truly is a luxury.

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Tang had tried a lonelier version of sustainable living -

Another Land, in 2010, was a small hut on Laoshan mountain. Tang learned about planting seasons, natural fertilizers, how to extract salt from seawater, and how to brew vinegar, soy sauce, and beer.

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It wasn’t viable, but he learned a lot -

Until he learned to make cooking pots, he ate mostly raw peppers. Eventually, the project attracted volunteers who came and made soap, crafted shoes, and installed solar panels and a self-made wind turbine.

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He was squeezed out by developers -

Tang was dating Xing, but she had kept her job in the city and visited him twice a week, providing moral and material support, and slowly opening her mind to sustainable living.

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Community, he learned, was necessary -

Tang realized he couldn’t become self-sufficient on his own, which is where the idea for the commune came from.

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Removing yourself from societal standards is hard -

Tang’s father raised him to be an independent thinker, so he’s proud of his son. However, he admitted to the South China Morning Post that it’s difficult for him, as people think he wasn’t strict enough with his child.

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It’s the difficult work that will communicate their message -

Another Community wants to show society that there are many different ways of dignified living, and that lives don’t have to be measured in degrees, incomes, material possessions, or compromise.

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The order of power -

There is no leader, but rather a division of labor. Residents have a say in group affairs like finances, land use, crops, and consumption of electricity or water, and everyone is heard and respected in a mixture of democracy and consensus.

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Unlocking creativity and independent thought -

With the ability to do what they wish with the land and their time on it, members find they are able to more freely generate their own creative thoughts and ideas.

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It’s still very small -

There are about a dozen residents, of whom less are permanent because they cannot yet sustain themselves without jobs. Residents include a children’s book designer, a public health expert, a filmmaker, and a Cisco security expert.

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It will take time -

They’re currently learning all the knowledge they will have to eventually pass on to sustain this commune.

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Threat of demolition -

As permanent homes are not technically legal on commune land, they fear government demolition. Even so, they reportedly hope to grow to 30 residents by the end of 2020, 150 by 2030, and 300 by 2036.

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Their dream is not impossible - Take a look at Tamera, a peace village located in Portugal's arid southern region that seeks to change the world through positive thoughts, sustainability, self-sufficiency, and love. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

© Flickr/Creative Commons