By Peter Neville-Hadley
The seaside community of Aranya, about 2.5 hours from Beijing by high-speed rail, is luring in young Chinese visitors with its minimalistic design and otherworldly serenity. The “lie flat” youth in China, who’ve rejected the rat race like those “quiet quitting” in the U.S., come for space, slowness, and spirituality reflected in structures that sometimes merge with sand and sea. Some come for a day of selfie-taking with some of the country’s most appealing architecture. Others come to envy its pristine orderliness, and to lounge in an Airbnb or a room with a plunge pool at the recently opened Hidden Place Hotel. Foreigners developed the town of Beidaihe in the early 20th century and Aranya’s residences often echo those early European villas. The isolated Lonely Library, built by internationally garlanded architect Dong Gong, draws readers who idle long days at seats with vast ocean views. His chapel-like Community Hall, with its steeply pointed white roof, paddles in the waves, looking ready to set sail at any moment, while the Dune Art Museum’s dome-shaped spaces are buried in the beach. Recent additions include the steel tower of the Lighthouse of Wishes and the aptly named Cloud Center, a multi-purpose venue hosting art, literature, theater, music, and fashion events. The chic enclave even hosted a Louis Vuitton menswear show last year.
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