French architect makes Deqin her 2nd hometown

What is nostalgia? Perhaps you lead a wandering life and don’t know where to be nostalgic. But a French architect has made Deqin County in Yunnan’s Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture her second hometown.

Estelle is an architect from France. Six years ago, she came to Yujie Village, a remote Tibetan town in Deqin. She immediately fell in love with the traditional Tibetan houses there. She rented an old-fashioned Tibetan mud-brick house on a hillside for 30 years. It became her new home.

After several years of work, her mud-brick house became an attraction in the village. The five rooms, each distinctive in their own way, retain the characteristics of old Tibetan dwellings. She has since turned the house into an inn called Tulu Lodge. The inn offers local wine, French bread and other foods. Everything tells the story of Estelle’s connection to Yujie Village.

She told our reporter that the Tibetans in Deqin are very honest, similar to people in her hometown. With the small bridges, the flowing streams and surrounding mountains, Yujie Village resembles her hometown at the foot of the Alps. Because of this she chose to stay. As an architect, Estelle decorated the old house by herself and settled down.

 “There are more than a dozen households in the settlement, and I have become friends with all the villagers. I often visit them and they also come to my house from time to time,” the 57-year-old architect said proudly. Now she obviously considers herself a part of the village.

Estelle pays close attention to protecting the environment as well. She not only decorated the house with local raw materials, but also tends to vegetable patches and fruit trees and keeps the stream in front of the house clean and clear.

Estelle does not see the old house as an inn for making money, but she regards it as her home instead. When our reporter asked about her tourism-related business, she said that she does not want the noises of the outside world to disturb the Yujie’s tranquillity, and the visitors to “Tulu Lodge” are those with whom she has an affinity. (Diqing Daily)

 

 

 

French architect makes Deqin her 2nd hometown

What is nostalgia? Perhaps you lead a wandering life and dont know where to be nostalgic. But a French architect has made Deqin County in Yunnans Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture her second hometown. Estelle is an architect from France. Six years ago, she came to Yujie Village, a remote Tibetan town in Deqin. She immediately fell in love with the traditional Tibetan houses there. She rented an old-fashioned Tibetan mud-brick house on a hillside for 30 years. It became her new home. After several years of work, her mud-brick house became an attraction in the village. The five rooms, each distinctive in their own way, retain the characteristics of old Tibetan dwellings. She has since turned the house into an inn called Tulu Lodge. The inn offers local wine, French bread and other foods. Everything tells the story of Estelles connection to Yujie Village. She told our reporter that the Tibetans in Deqin are very honest, similar to people in her hometown. With the small bridges, the flowing streams and surrounding mountains, Yujie Village resembles her hometown at the foot of the Alps. Because of this she chose to stay. As an architect, Estelle decorated the old house by herself and settled down. There are more than a dozen households in the settlement, and I have become friends with all the villagers. I often visit them and they also come to my house from time to time, the 57-year-old architect said proudly. Now she obviously considers herself a part of the village. Estelle pays close attention to protecting the environment as well. She not only decorated the house with local raw materials, but also tends to vegetable patches and fruit trees and keeps the stream in front of the house clean and clear. Estelle does not see the old house as an inn for making money, but she regards it as her home instead. When our reporter asked about her tourism-related business, she said that she does not want the noises of the outside world to disturb the Yujies tranquillity, and the visitors to Tulu Lodge are those with whom she has an affinity. (Diqing Daily)