Not working, go to make wine: Vineyard taught me four lessons of life

Author: Lan Lijuan
Publisher: Da Tian Publishing
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The Journey of a Grape Seed — About Lan Lijuan
First You Save Yourself, Then You Save the World.
In early 1998, she joined the editorial department of the magazine "Tian Xia" as a reporter. In 2000, she transferred to the magazine "Cheers" as a senior reporter. In 2001, she won the first prize in the magazine category of the 5th "Cross-Strait Relations and Mainland News Reporting Award" from the China Development Foundation. In May 2004, she took a leave of absence from her job to study in New Zealand. In November 2004, she traveled to New Zealand's wineries to seek the meaning of her life. In February 2005, she ended her journey and returned to Taiwan, writing stories about the wineries. In July 2005, she returned to the editorial department of "Tian Xia" as an associate editor. Her determination to leave was a massive life experiment she had undertaken. When she stopped her feet in a foreign land, her purpose every day was to live out every moment, having experienced storms, flown planes, jumped from heights, and spent a night with two men. She wanted to transform her experiences into stories and share them with the world. Her current greatest dream is to make her own wine. She writes 20,000 words of interviews in a month, earning the nickname "Lan 20,000" from her colleagues. Seven years of reporting allowed her to meet others but not herself. Until her beloved art teacher passed away, she realized that life should not leave regrets. One day, she decided to abandon mainstream values and routines, traveling alone from the Northern Hemisphere to New Zealand. She wanted to find herself and make the biggest investment in herself. Flying 9,000 kilometers, crossing the northern and southern time zones, she learned to grow grapes, harvest, make wine, and taste it. The vineyards taught her the richest banquet of life. Lan Lijuan not only wants to share — 4 lessons from the vineyard about life experiences, 5 ways to taste New Zealand cuisine, 10 ways to work in New Zealand, 14 ways to prepare for adventures — but also tells you: If you have a dream in your heart, then set off now!