Jackson Hole the American Lifestyle Town in Beijing Labeled as 'Unpatriotic'
BEIJING, Dec. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In the middle of December, the publics attention was drawn based on an article about a Chinese town which was reported by The New York Times. The media organizations and the residents from Orenda Tribe expressed their own opinions around sensitive phrases such as 'pretending living in America' and 'unpatriotic.'
Jackson Hole, one of The Orenda Tribe Member Bases in the report in The New York Times was depicted as an elite area surrounded by thousands of middle-class residents. 'The residents here drive Audis or Land Rovers filled with French wine, enjoy the spa, put large deposits in banks and live in a fancy house with American style who pretend to have a typical American lifestyle.' The scene that was depicted in the report labeled the residents as 'unpatriotic.' On 26th December, the local residents and members held a media conference, inviting media organizations both nationally and internationally to explore the realness of the tribe.
People's Daily and Reference News, attended the media conference. Xinhua, the media organization which published articles and criticized the Orenda Tribe as an 'unpatriotic' place also showed up.
The air was smoky as the smog was especially heavy on that day, most people were wearing masks. After traveling the two-hour trip, they were surprised by the blue sky and fresh air. "We come here to wash our lungs with the clean air," claimed one resident. In polluted Beijing, the clean air has become a scarcity. The unique advantage in the tribe has attracted a few elite families who require high living standards to experience an American style vacation.
Adam, an independent filmmaker, was attracted to the tribe after a friend made him to come here to produce a documentary which will be shown next year. "Some media organizations, had only been here a day or two and came to their own conclusions, regarding this as a place where people pretend they are living in America," Adam said. Certainly, there is architecture with American elements, but he found most people come here to relax. "The dream they pursue is not a typical American dream." Adam mentioned, the tribe here is distinctive from the one that was reported by media.
"If you spend more time here, you will fall in love with it as we have," tribe resident and former professor, Hutu said. The real attraction in the tribe is not only the great mountains and rivers, but also the activities. The residents with similar hobbies gather together because of the activities such as oil painting, horticulture, wine, yoga, football, drama and golf clubs. Professor Hutu is the leader in the Orenda Horticulture Club, under his guidance; the club expanded from planting flowers into other areas including flower arrangement, landscape, flower drying and even soap made with fresh flowers.
The Orenda Tribe was established in 2011, as the Chinese Happiness Operator, it is running more than one hundred dream tribes, including Orenda Tribe Wine Club, Flying Club, Golf Society, Horse Riding Club, Horticulture Club, Drama Society and Poem Union. The members are creating and practicing the dream of happiness jointly. The Orenda Tribe has several exclusive bases for the members around the nation including Orenda Tribe Beijing Jackson Hole members Base and Orenda Tribe Zhengzhou Wuyun Mountain Members Base. Operating several red wine clubs in China and France provides an exclusive leisure place for the members.
A professor of sociology and the dance club master in the Orenda tribe Mengliyuanxiang (online name) suggested that people used to admire city life and escape from the rural areas, but now it is the other way around, the residents from cities would like to travel to rural areas. In her perspective. "After the opening and reform of China in the recent three decades, we have experienced a boom in the economic income. As population is becoming richer, they would like to achieve the spiritual pursuits and dreams, representing the social advancements of China. From my own point of view, I can't be counted as a rich person, but I think I'm rich in spirit. I pursue the value of spirit and I'm a spiritual noble person, we come here to pursuit the richness in spirit."
During the interview in the Orenda Tribe, the editor found lots of the middle class residents didn't have any plans for immigration, "we enjoy a happy life with dignity, safe food, an enjoyable environment and harmonious community, and this is my dream tribe," one of the residents said. Songzi Xu, the drama club master here said she had been to lots of countries, and the reason she chose to live here was not for imitating the American lifestyle but for pursuing her dreams. She has performed and directed several beloved works such as Reborn, Sun Rise, Thunderstorm and La petite marchande d'allumettes with the residents. Reborn was recomposed as a drama and performed in Poly Theatre for two days with great reviews from public. This lifestyle here is the one Songzi Xu expected and loved. "The beauty in the Orenda Tribe is spotless, simple and enjoyable, here I can feel the wildness of Western America, and my heart is free to fly," she said.
SOURCE Orenda Tribe Member Bases
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