“Youth Nursing Homes” – A New Travel Trend
The growing rift between China and America hurts us in ways we don’t see. Yes, we’ll feel inflation as a consequence of the tarrifs we impose, but also, we’ll miss the positive elements that exposure to different ways of doing life bring.
For example, how do Chinese young people respond to the fast pace and crowding of urban life? It can be overwhelming.
Here in the U.S., we see it showing up in a new emphasis by young people on the importance of rest. I see this in young people who often prioritize rest over productivity. As a Boomer, I often find myself shaking my head at this. But maybe young people are onto something.
In China, this is showing up as a new type of travel destination is trending among young Chinese people: simple rural guesthouses where young city dwellers can relax and unwind.
NikkeiAsia reports that at one such guesthouse in eastern China’s Jiangsu province one recent day, several guests sat around a table having lunch.
“Life in the city is so fast-paced I feel like I can’t take a breath,” said a 27-year-old woman from Beijing who was staying at the lodging, located in a village roughly an hour’s drive from the city of Suzhou.
“Staying here, I feel like I’ve come back to my childhood home,” a man in his 20s said with a smile.
The guesthouse, which opened in July, is one of a growing number of so-called “youth nursing homes” that are popping up across the country. These places offer a space where guests — most born in the 1990s or later — can relax like senior citizens may do after retiring.
Posts mentioning such facilities on social media platform Weibo and Douyin (China’s version of TikTo), started surging around May.
Such lodgings have attracted the particular attention of Generation Z and millennials yearning a simpler lifestyle of waking up at sunrise and going to sleep when it gets dark.
For twenty- and thirty-somethings in China, their whole lives have been marked by intense pressures, studying hard from a young age and facing fierce competition for college admission. But while China’s once-booming economy gave young people hope that their hard work would pay off with future wealth, the current slump has left many college graduates struggling to find work.
The increasingly popular retreat centers give young people a place where they can escape such harsh realities and focus on their mental well-being.
“By the time guests who spent time unwinding leave here to go home, their faces look brighter,” said the 26-year-old operator of the Suzhou guesthouse.
Photo by zhang kaiyv on Unsplash
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As a 52 year old Gen Xer who waited to have kids till 40 and is now raising and homeschooling pre-teen girls while caring for aging parents. In my own battle with Lyme disease it was not the supplements or the therapies that made the difference. It was learning to honor my body’s capacity. Learning to rest, and not strive. I am a high productivity person. It was a huge journey of faith to trust the Lord with all the things I could no longer do. To trust Him with my reputation. Learning to say no was hard. Realizing I could not keep the same pace as I did before Lyme and Mold illness. Truth is though that part if the reason I had so much illness from Lyme disease as because I had run my body into the ground in my 20s and 30s. I am a big fan of teaching young people to honor their capacity. It’s faith journey really. In our American world it’s hard not to be productive 24/7! But for me learning to honor capacity was the most impactful shift of my life so far. (The other greatest shift was on my WR almost 20 years ago when I learned Listening Prayer and have been listening daily to Jesus ever since. In fact listening to Jesus day by day is how I learned to honor my capacity!)
I really like that phrase: “honor my body’s capacity.” It’s our first stewardship – caring for/loving ourselves. We have done such a poor job of this during the covid years and are still dealing with the ripple effects as so many struggle with anxiety. Thanks for leading the way, Kelly. The work you do is not just for yourself and your family – it’s for so many others who also need healing.
After a lifetime as a workaholic, driven by the seismic forces of trauma, genetic uncertainty and pride, l am embracing at 68 the power of rest and the sacred spaces of a Sabbath rest. Good insights Seth. Love you.
I’ve watched you over the years wrestle with the need to optimize the time you had available to you, Butch. You did so out of the best of motives. You had what you perceived was a Damoclean sword hanging over your head given your father carrying the Huntington Disease gene and as a consequence, ran so hard in life it just about killed you. The resulting wear and tear on your spirit and your family is something you carry with you still. It wasn’t fair, and your efforts to go back and repair the damage are at times heroic. I especially love it when I see you get enough personal healing that you are able to bear the pain of others – healing that often is a function of the finding the liminal space and Spirit-led shalom that rest brings. Keep pressing in – so many of us still need the help of those who have done the hard work of finding themselves underneath all the pain they’ve been carrying.
Seth, thank you. You’ve been an inimitable 40 year friend.