This is Jason Pym, a Brit who has been pursuing his dream of being an artist in China for 12 years. He and his wife also own a 60-square-meter café in the old town of Dali, Yunnan Province.

 

　　When I met him for the first time, he was giving English lessons to three Chinese primary school students at his café, which looks more like a bookstore.

 

　　Xiong Manshu, one of the students, said she likes to learn English with Uncle Jason, because she has so much fun during the lessons. Xiong Manshu's father says he has to pay only 40 yuan an hour for his daughter to take lessons here, far less than what other training centers charge, as Jason teaches not for the money but to do something good for the neighborhood.

 

　　"I want to provide my daughter lessons by native language speakers. The learning atmosphere here in Jason's café is very good, as Jason can speak both English and Chinese. I am a physics teacher, and I appreciate Jason's way of teaching."

 

　　Mr. Xiong says he hopes his daughter keeps taking lessons from Jason for a long while. But Jason says he is too busy to provide lessons every week, because he needs time for his painting and helping his Chinese wife, Cecilia, with running their cafe.

 

　　Jason has been in China for 12 years. He met Cecilia when he worked in Shanghai. They moved to Dali after they got married.

 

　　"After we got married, Shanghai life became too hectic with overtime and working on weekends—everything. So we went on holiday to Dali, and then decided to move here. So we went back, quit our jobs and moved everything here."

 

　　Jason and Cecilia have been living in Dali for seven years. Now their son, Xiao Long, is already five years old. Jason says their life here is totally different from what it had been in the big city.

 

　　"Because Dali is so small, you are always running for someone you know every day, and you'll say hello and have a chat. And for many meals during the week will end up eating at someone's house, café or hostel or whatever, so it's a very nice community feeling. Everybody has the same idea about things. We look after their kids for one day, and someone else will take them the next day. It's a warm feeling. Nothing is like it was in the city."

 

　　Jason says nowadays many Chinese also are moving to Dali from other places, giving up good jobs and nice houses in the city. They are essentially choosing to give up metropolitan life. Some of them are here for their children; others simply move here to enjoy life.

 

　　"As for Shanghai life, I think if you work there when you are in your 20s, it is lots of fun. But then after while, the long hours, everything, is not so nice. And when we wanted to start a family, we thought the big city was not good for a child as well. When we came here, it seemed to have everything. Five minutes from my house you can go walking up the river in the woods, and you have lots of friends, a nice community as well, nice bookshops. There is pretty much anything I want."

 

　　In the café, there are thousands of English books both for borrowing and for sale. Jason says he hopes they can be one of the highlights of their cafe.

 

　　"The books will be a draw for people, hopefully. Before we left Shanghai, we went to lots of those secondhand markets. So we just bought like thousands of books from these markets. We got these here."

 

　　Jason spends most of his time now painting the landscapes and people of Dali. He says he hopes to make a living from painting pictures in the future. But now his family mainly depends on the café, which is mostly run by Cecelia.

 

　　"Our lifestyle right now in Dali is what we expected the most. We can do what we want to do and whatever we are interested in. The living cost in Dali is not that high. We lead a very comfortable life here."

 

　　For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.