Those were the days, of idyllic fun and few worries

I grew up on a farm at a time when life was simple. Though I doubt I can adjust to rural life again after so many years in the city, I am increasingly aware that growing up in the countryside has been a real blessing.

Thanks to my early life, I rarely feel inconvenienced by any shortage of material goods. I am not a slave to material comforts, and hence have more time to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

I grew up in times of constant shortages. Shampoos and refrigerators were a rarity; air-conditioners were unheard of. The nearest shop, a co-op, was located miles away, and the goods cost a pile. Not that this posed any problem for me - I never had any pocket money.

In terms of entertainment, the State-owned farm bought its first TV set in the late 1970s and villagers would come from miles away to watch the programs which consisted mostly of news and a few movies aired repeatedly.

Like in most Chinese villages, a loudspeaker was installed atop a pole planted in the center of the farm. Besides announcements, it was used to broadcast radio programs. I spent many a summer evening sitting on a woodpile, listening to the stories being blasted out by the loudspeakers.

Living on a farm meant I was always close to nature. Surrounded by hills, forests and winding streams, the change of seasons on a farm presents a dramatic picture. Some of these scenes are so embedded in my mind that I feel I can just reach out and touch them: the tall, lonely white ash trees in the moonlight, the field of dandelions in full bloom, their fragrance permeating the air; the birch trees with their branches turning reddish in the early spring.

My happiest memories are of picking herbs, mushrooms, fruits and walnuts. Nothing can quite match the joy of picking wild herbs, amid the first signs of spring and the pleasant scent of damp mud.

Looking for the spongy, brownish mushrooms poking through the layer of fallen needle leaves in a dark larch forest of autumn, was always fun, even if a little creepy.

Nowadays, many city dwellers worry about their weight, but this posed no problem on the farm, where people toiled away in manual jobs to make a living.

Each family tilled a small patch of land to grow vegetables such as spring onions, leek, celery, eggplant, chilly, tomatoes, cucumber and green beans. Chinese cabbages, potatoes, carrots and radishes were stored in a public cellar in late autumn in preparation for the long winter ahead.

When a pig was slaughtered in a nearby village, we'd vie for the fat part - lean meat was just not enough to satiate our hearty appetites.

On my excursions into the mountains surrounding Beijing, I often reflect upon my childhood and wish more youngsters would come out of their world of online computer games and inane TV series.

Like philosopher-author Henry Thoreau said, one should make time to delight in the simple pleasures offered by nature. I have learnt to do this, thanks to my life on a farm.