This year, the "youth nursing home" is rapidly popular,
Rising in Zhengzhou, Yunnan, Chongqing, Hefei and other places,
But it was controversial as soon as it appeared:
What do young people raise when they don't struggle?
Can nursing homes really allow young people to live carefree lives?
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Everyone drank tea and chatted in the courtyard of the youth nursing home
In mid-June, a field visit to the "Youth Nursing Home" in Mandiu Ancient Village, Yunnan Province.
We found that it was not human in the traditional sense
Institutions that provide long-term residence or care,
It is also different from a "youth hostel".
According to founder Lubek, there are two main groups of people living here:
"One is freelancing, who come here to increase networking opportunities;
The second is young people who encounter bottlenecks in work or life.
You need to adjust, rest and start again. ”
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The day-to-day state of a youth nursing home
We also chatted with three young people who have already moved in
their longer or shorter stay experience,
Xiao Wu, who was born in the 90s, said,
"It's not just a retirement home for him,
It's a 'hospital'. ”
Statement: Lubbock
Editor: Qin Chu
Editor-in-charge: Chen Ziwen
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The young people who stayed in the house went to the lotus pond to pick lotuses together
Here's what Lubsick had to say.
Our youth nursing home does not accept those over 45 years old, and those who have never worked are not accepted. Here, no one asks you for your life routine, there is no workplace anxiety, there are no family conflicts, and you can "do whatever you want".
I was one of the first batch of youth nursing homes in China. I used to be in the army, and after I came out, I drifted north for more than 10 years, and I did a lot of work, and I have been dealing with young people, thinking about what kind of life young people should use. We see in the news that there are some young people who are admitted to nursing homes for the elderly, and they think about what will happen if they turn the elderly into young people?
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A bonfire is held in the evening
In the process of opening a "youth nursing home", many people ridiculed, questioned and did not understand: the elderly always feel that we are wasting time, saying that young people are not doing their jobs properly; Some middle-aged people feel that this will make young people become irresponsible for themselves and their families, and become moths in society.
But I think the pressure on young people today is too great in this era, and many people are overwhelmed by mortgages, car loans, or daily expenses. People need to rest, and young people not only have to struggle, but also need to have a balanced life, and lie down when it is time to lie flat.
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The youth nursing home is surrounded by mountains and rivers
In October 2022, we decided to do this, and I wanted to let young people who want to take a break enjoy a free life in a comfortable environment at the lowest price. We chose the location in Mandiu Ancient Village in Xishuangbanna, firstly, the cost is more controllable, and secondly, the environment of Xishuangbanna has health and wellness attributes, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and the surrounding villagers are also very simple.
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Before the renovation of the space
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Get hands-on with the retrofit
The former youth nursing home was a school dormitory, and the rent was 80,000 yuan a year. The old house is really very difficult to renovate, in the early days of wasteland, shoveling grass, making trees, frame renovation, all done by yourself, and finally spent nearly 450,000 yuan to transform out 12 rooms.
The space is about 700 square meters, with two floors, and the second floor has a terrace, and you can see the scenery when you open the door and window. We made the kitchen so big that it could accommodate six or seven people at the same time. Usually, I go to buy vegetables and cook in small groups, and the consumption is shared equally according to the number of people, so I can cook it myself if I don't want to eat together.
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The façade of the youth nursing home
When we first started to build a youth nursing home, we also crossed the river by feeling the stones, not only to provide a bed and a space, but also to hope that young people would collide with different ideas here.
The youth nursing home has been in operation for more than a year now, and the current number of permanent residents is 10~15 people, and most of the residents are post-90s, and there will be some post-00s and post-80s. I thought there would be a lot of freelancers, but it turned out that office workers are more willing to come here, and most of them want to stop for a while and take a good rest.
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Indoor living environment
There is also a little "threshold" for us to "admit to the hospital", people over 45 years old do not socialize here, many of them stay for a few days and leave, he has to hurry back to support his family, in fact, he loses the meaning of coming here; There are also the kind of people who have not been to work for a day after coming out of school, and they just lie flat, and we do not recommend them to come.
If you stay in the off-season, it is about 1,500 yuan a month, and we also provide "volunteer accommodation" to do some cleaning and exchange accommodation fees. This is also related to my own experience, when I had less than 100 yuan on me, I went to China on a "poor trip", starting from Beijing, and crossing China all the way. Along the way, you can earn money from your departure to your next destination by working part-time or working part-time.
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Go and meditate in the woods
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Let's go play Baduanjin; Farming together
Most of the young people who come to the youth nursing home will turn off their mobile phones, they will not look at the computer, and they will not do any work during this time, and they will communicate with everyone in a free time.
Most people will wake up at 7 o'clock to go for a run, and a few will sleep until noon. We also organize activities such as playing a hachidannishiki, planting fields, hiking by waterfalls, learning boxing or meditating together, concerts in the evenings, playing guitar and tambourine......
Some white-collar workers who came before, when they took him to farm, they were still reluctant to the land at first, and when their feet were stuck in the soil, they were able to let go of themselves and wear straw hats to be excited in the field for a day; We rode a tricycle to pick, and everyone always thought that everything had to be paid, but the villagers were very enthusiastic, saying that you just eat a fruit from our family, why should you be charged? Money has been exchanged in big cities, and when you return to this rural environment, you can get more happiness.
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Let's go hiking together
I think that the "youth nursing home" actually reflects a new spiritual appeal of young people today, who do not work, do not want to get married, do not want to buy a house, do not want to have children, and have entered a period of low desire, and they need a place to do nothing.
At the same time, in a fast-paced society, many young people feel lonely or lack a sense of belonging. We organize group events and community life to increase the connection between people. Like the post-90s generation, as an only child generation, for the pension problems that will be faced in the future, the youth nursing home also allows everyone to try to "huddle together for warmth" in advance.
Many young people who work in the city live for 7 or 20 days, and they still have to return to their original state of living and working.
In the past, when it came to "pension", everyone would think that it was a kind of "degenerate", but now we want to transform pension into a positive attitude towards life, so that young people can raise their hearts more quietly and start better.
Here are the testimonials of three young people who lived in a nursing home.
"I want to take a break here"
Qiu Xiaotian, a post-90s self-media practitioner, is from Chengdu, Sichuan
The happiest thing about me coming to the youth nursing home is that no one will judge you for doing this right or wrong, no one will urge you to do something, I went out for a walk today, and I was very happy to get wet in the rain.
I probably came here in 2022, stayed for half a year, and came again in June this year. At first, when my family learned that I was living in a "youth nursing home", they didn't understand it, and my mother would say that I didn't want to go to a nursing home.
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Let's trace the river together
Before I came here, I was in the class for two years, doing administration, and I was repeating the same thing every day, and I could see the end at a glance. After resigning, I became an online UP master, and I came into contact with a youth nursing home for the first time when I was collecting wind in Yunnan.
I am a child who grew up in accordance with the rules, and at my age, the pressure of my parents' urging to marry is still quite large, and my mother always thinks that you have graduated, and the matter of getting married and having children should be put on the agenda, so I go home for the New Year and the state is more and more stressful year by year.
It's been a long time since I've turned on my computer, and I occasionally use my phone to contact family and friends. I feel healthier now, I used to eat takeout, but now I cook my own food; I used to get up early at work with pressure to listen to the alarm clock, but now I am called by the sound of birds, and the whole person is much more refreshing.
I want to take a break here, not to lie down permanently, to sort out my own life to a certain extent, to find what I really want to do, and by the end of this year, I will start again.
"Living with young people has made me understand my children better"
Long Jianping, a post-80s potter, is from Kunming, Yunnan
I am the older in the youth nursing home, and I will be a little different from their post-90s status. Usually I get up around 7 o'clock, make a pot of tea, quietly flip through the books alone, sometimes pull blanks, and sometimes teach interested friends to make simple pottery.
When I used to stay in the city, it was noisy, and I didn't have much time to think about creative things when I was at home with my children every day. It's a lot quieter here, and the trivial things will be put aside for a while, and I will completely immerse myself in some creations on the mud.
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Teach others how to make pottery
Although it is a "retirement home", I think it is a place where young people collide. The post-90s generation is more active and lively, and they will be exposed to relatively new things together. I am usually not good at expressing and communicating, living with these post-90s generations, listening to some of their ideas, I will think of my own children.
I educate my children to have a more obvious change in thinking, I used to be more serious with my children, but now I am much more relaxed, and I will take the initiative to understand the popular things that children like. I'm planning to stay for a week or two now, and I'll bring my wife with me in September and October to let her feel the same.
"I feel the connection and warmth between people again"
Xiao Wu is a post-90s former state-owned enterprise employee from Beijing
It's not just a nursing home, I think it's a "hospital" for me.
I'm here now, and this place is all about letting you unleash your nature, and having endless fun, and I've changed from "I-person" to "E-person".
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Play cards together after the lunch break
I used to be a soldier, and after I left the army, I have been working in a state-owned enterprise, and I have settled in Beijing for more than 10 years.
The winter in the north is very cold, and in 2022, I wanted to come out to take a break after the New Year, and I passed by chance. At that time, the nursing home was still in its infancy, and I wondered why there were no elderly people in a nursing home.
Everyone was singing around the campfire, and at first I was very reserved and sitting there in a hurry, but they didn't mind that I was just a stranger, and they clinked glasses with me and held my hand, and all of a sudden, I felt that my heart was opened, and I didn't want to leave. I rented a small house in the village next to it and waited for the youth nursing home to be completed, and in the process, I also helped to pick out doors, windows, bamboo curtains or something, watching it improve little by little, and I felt a sense of accomplishment.
In the youth nursing home, you go to work when you have something, and everyone is here to wait for you when you come back, which is very kind. One day in the future, I'll definitely get out of here and do some more things, but I'll definitely come back.
Part of the image courtesy: Lubock