By SUSAN TRIMBLE

Courtyard of daily life.

I love Beijing, but after a long working week, nothing suits me better than "heading for the hills," or really the village! We have found a quiet place to while away the weekend...no telephone, no computer, no honking horns and busy weekend shopping trips, no entertaining or being entertained. Friday afternoon ends and we are anxious to be out of the city as soon as possible.

The village is tiny, I'm guessing about 200 people are there at any one time. But rarely do we ever see more than 20 people in all, several chickens, a few roosters, some pigs in dugout sties or very many birds. Occasionally we might disturb a rabbit as we walk through the meadow.

Feng-shui - a perfect village setting.

Protected by a ridge of mountains in the north, and cuddled in the warm bodies of an azure dragon in the east and a white tiger in the west, our little village sits on well-drained land with a musical stream that winds its way throughout, supplying every cottage with fresh water from an underground spring. Propitious influences flow from the south and collect in this perfect horseshoe.

Our little village is representative of rural life in north China. Typically a family will have a courtyard of about 12 square meters, surrounded by a wall on three sides and with the house on the fourth side, preferably facing south for a clear view and of course to catch the sunlight. The house will have a single entrance, normally mid-center, which is flanked by windows on either side. This doorway will enter into the central room of the house, where the cooking will take place. On either side of this central room, you will find a sleeping room each fitted with a kang that takes up half of the space. The room may have a large cupboard or a few smaller ones in which various things are stored. Bedding is folded daily and set at one end of the kang. On every windowsill, as on every flat surface you will find items for daily use...handy tools, pieces of rubber, wood and foam, empty containers, bowls and chopsticks. Seeds are stored, fruit is drying, clothing is airing. A unique assortment of items, all seemingly out of place, but all with a purpose and an importance.

Villagers at work.

The simple plastered walls are decorated with calendars and newspaper pictures, and invariably a large poster of Chairman Mao with the winning smile and gentle authority that so captured the hearts of the peasants. If the family has ever received a photograph, you can be sure to find it stuck ceremoniously on a wall!

The cooking wok is fired from underneath by twigs and various other seasonal fuel; that same fire heats the kang that connects by a vent. The heating system is simple, safe and efficient, but quite smokey. Most people have low wattage electric lights and some enjoy a small television.

Villagers at play.

Many women in the village have a treadle sewing machine on which they regularly produce new quilts for the kangs, quilted and padded vests and jackets for the family members. Most often these are made of colorful fabric scraps and leftover strips that the village women trade and share. Their clothing is patched and repaired until it is of no more use. Nothing is wasted, everything possible is recycled.

The small courtyards that front the houses are the center of life for the family. Most of the daily work takes place there. Chopping vegetables for meals, drying corn, husking apricots, separating grains, curing meats, washing dishes and clothing, repairing tools...it all happens in the courtyard. Underneath nearly every courtyard is a cellar where beer is kept cold, apples and vegetables are stored, spirits are aged, and other treasures are hidden.

Cozy inside.

The lanes crisscross between houses and fields leading from restplace to workplace in a meandering way. Rural life is hard work. The Chinese keep it as simple as possible as they work together. Each village member pulls his weight in his own particular skillset, taking up the slack when someone is tired or unable, and using his energies for work that ensures collective survival.

A strong brown body harvests the wheat. I hear the soft swish of a scythe and I dream of my youth. The comfortable clicking of busy knitting needles, and the gentle rhythm of colorful wool as it is pulled through fanciful innersoles warms my heart and renews my city-soiled soul.

Is it cosmic breath at work on my spirit? Is it some kind of magic force? Is it the fresh air and the quiet pace? Is it the unfailing synergic personalities of the hard-working villagers? It's all of these... it's a village life!

"Picturesque China" a book on old Chinese landscape was written by Ernst Borschmann who said: "This well known word (feng-shui) means wind-water, but in its wider sense stands for relations to the surrounding nature, the influence of the landscape on the beauty of the buildings and the happiness of the inhabitants." Stephen Skinner, author of "The Living Earth Manual of Feng-Shui" said: "The art of living in harmony with the land, and deriving the greatest benefit, peace and prosperity from being in the right place at the right time is called feng-shui." And Joseph Needham, "Science and Civilization in China", credits feng-shui with "the great beauty of the setting of so many farms, houses and villages throughout China." A kang is a hollow brick bed with a series of flues underneath to allow the flow of hot air from a fire.