(中文翻译在英文正文之后)

“The mountains are high, and the emperor is far away” (山高皇帝远) is a well-known Chinese expression, as well as its alternative “Heaven is high and the emperor is far away” (天高皇帝远). It refers to a limited influence of the central government in remote peripheral areas and suggests that local governments and rural residents enjoy more freedom than in the central city. Although this might be different today due to the ubiquity of the Internet and the central position of rural revitalization in China’s government policy. 

The expression is said to have originated in Zhejiang province during the Yuan dynasty (1279 to 1368). Last year a book by journalist Alec Ash was published with the first half of this expression as its title: The mountains are high. However, Ash’s book is not about Zhejiang but about Dali, in Yunnan province.

Ash swapped Beijing for Dali “to escape society and the city in an inspiring journey of self-discovery”. The book describes the author’s own experiences and observations, when moving to rural Dali after living in Beijing for seven years. In China there is a phenomenon of an increasing number of Chinese ‘reverse migrating’ from cities to the countryside. In the case of Dali, these are mainly alternative subcultures. Dali is known as a popular tourist destination, thanks to its natural scenery, cultural heritage, and especially its vibrant nightlife with bohemian hippies. Many young people are drawn to this “trendy destination” to escape the urban rat race and get back to nature, “out of a romantic, wounded self-image”.

I have never been there myself, but it reminds me of Goa in India, a place I visited twenty years ago. From what I hear and read Dali is teeming with coffee shops and yoga studios. Ash describes how people of all stripes move here in search of harmony with nature and inner peace.

The book is about escapism, desire and unattainable dreams. It mainly shows how the author did not find what he was looking for in this “radical change of life”. He is now back in New York. According to Ash, Dali is a “false utopia”. Rural experiences in Dali are apparently not so pure but rather exurban. It’s a bubble of ex-city dwellers who can afford to experience a gap year.

山高皇帝远是一个众所周知的俗语，它指的是中央政府在偏远边缘地区的有限影响力，体现了地方政府和农村居民比中心城市享有更多的自由。但是如今发达的互联网和乡村振兴的重要性，情况可能会有所不同。

据说这个俗语起源于元朝（1279 年至 1368 年）的浙江省。去年，记者 Alec Ash 出版了一本书，书名是这句话的前半部分：山高。然而，Ash 的书不是关于浙江，而是云南省的大理。

Ash 从北京搬到大理，“逃离社会和城市，踏上一段鼓舞人心的自我发现之旅”。这本书描述了作者在北京生活了七年后搬到大理农村的亲身经历和观察。在中国，越来越多的中国人从城市“逆向迁移”到农村。就大理而言，这些主要是另类亚文化。大理是受欢迎的旅游目的地，这要归功于其自然风光、文化遗产，尤其是波西米亚嬉皮士充满活力的夜生活。许多年轻人被吸引到这个“时尚的目的地”，以逃避城市的激烈竞争，回归自然，“出于浪漫、受伤的自我形象”

我自己从来没有去过那里，但它让我想起了印度的果阿，这是我 20 年前去过的地方。从我所听到和读到的来看，大理到处都是咖啡店和瑜伽馆。Ash 描述了形形色色的人们如何搬到这里寻求与自然的和谐和内心的平静

 这本书是关于逃避现实、欲望和无法实现的梦想的。它主要表现了作者是如何在这场 “人生的根本变化” 中没有找到他想要的东西。他现在回到了纽约。根据 Ash 的说法，大理是一个“虚假的乌托邦”。大理的乡村体验显然不是那么纯粹，而像郊区，它是一个前城市居民的泡沫，这些人有财力体验空档期。