The word of the day:

How can you call it a picnic if it's not wild?

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The year 2020 is said to be the year of the Chinese picnic.

Because from the beginning of March, the circle of friends began to go to the picnic one after another, until this May Day holiday, almost reached a climax.

Opening the circle of friends, as long as there is a red gingham, rattan basket, flower skirt, even without clicking on the big picture, we can guess that it is in the picnic.

Some people have joked, "One China, one picnic."

If this is the first year of picnics in China, it would be better to say that this is the first year of picnics in China's Netflix style.

Netro style picnic, the beauty is in the uniformity

A checkered cloth, a few rattan baskets, wooden plates, sandwiches, desserts, English-labeled wines, flowers, and even balloons, and then a small stereo, ukulele, magazine books, and English-language newspapers ...... appeared this year! The picnic photos are always no more than these factors.

If you don't believe me, on the little red book, a search for picnic strategy, most of the style is similar, and even take pictures of the props, composition, color have been listed for you, as long as the template to, you can unlock the same type of picnic.

On Taobao a search "picnic" word, immediately there is "net red with a full set of picnic supplies", "ins wind picnic", a key to order, net red with the same style picnic immediately! The first thing you need to do is to get in place.

In fact, the pursuit of beauty is not wrong, imitation is not necessarily not. Just when the circle of friends are sent similar pictures, just want to ask: you aesthetic fatigue? The first thing you need to do is to have a picnic, and that's what you're going to do.

What's even funnier is that some people bring roast chicken, shrimp, and a bunch of snacks to the picnic, living like an elementary school age spring tour of the strengthened version, but was pushed on the hot search, netizens laughed at such a picnic is too real.

Seeing this, I really just want to yell out: "I can have a picnic like this!" Picnic, is not it in good weather, a little sun, looking full of green, eating their favorite food?

Why does this turn into a funny sand sculpture series? Does sophistication have nothing to do with a great meal?

There's a group on Douban called "Are You Exquisite Today?"

There's a group on Douban called "Are You Exquisite Today?", which was originally thought to be about sharing how to live a better life every day, but when you clicked on it, it was all about sharing one's experience of cosmetic surgery and medical beauty.

I can't help but wonder if our understanding of sophistication is too simple and crude. Is refinement merely a precise aesthetic under human technology? Just as we demand too much singularity in the beauty of a picnic, is it not?

The Netflix-style picnic is "beautiful but soulless" because it is too uniform and unthinking.

Just like our times, eager for a quick fix, it's best if someone tells me how to do it with one click, copy and paste and be done with it.

The true meaning of picnic, is wild

What is picnic? Its English name is picnic, and it originated in 18th century Europe as a formal royal social event.

Then the nobles, picnic in the outdoor tables and chairs, there will be servants to serve. Later, it became a leisure activity for the general public to sit on the ground.

Today, the popular picnic in the circle of friends can be said to have its aesthetic origin in the Renaissance paintings. Such as Monet's Lunch on the Grass. Summer shade, the sun shining thinly, girls in flowery dresses, delicate food spread on white linen, champagne on the table.

Everything is beautiful, especially the sunlight that passes through the shade. After so many years, facing the painting seems to touch the temperature of that day, the pleasure of that picnic.

Turning to look at the picnic pictures in my circle of friends, I was puzzled: did we all go to the same meadow? The wind that day, is it not cold or hot? Did you encounter any interesting things at the picnic that day?

Perhaps this is the biggest problem with Netflix picnics.

The true meaning of a picnic is wild. It is to feel the sunshine and breeze of nature and to experience the spirit of grass and trees in the gap of urban life. The reason for wanting to have a picnic is that after living in concrete for a long time, we have a longing for nature and the countryside.

But often, we only see the refined picnic pictures.

Picnics, less wild, more PS.

The best picnic is to enjoy the moment

When searching for the topic of picnics on Zhihu, I saw that someone asked, "Why don't Chinese people have picnics?"

The reply underneath was, "Why don't the Chinese have picnics, it's just that they're called picnics!"

Walking to some mountain river, burning a few handfuls of firewood, or building a kiln, roasting chicken, sweet potatoes and corn ...... is also a proper picnic. But maybe, just not as beautifully photographed.

So maybe someone will say, why can't Netflix style picnic, life is not the need for a sense of ceremony, do we all have to picnic style?

Yes, life needs a sense of ceremony, but not only for the sense of ceremony.

Those thousands of picnic photos, all similar floral dresses, similar poses, it seems that the form is more important than the content.

Lin Huiyin in the Republican era was also a big fan of picnics. Whenever she was free, she would ride a donkey to picnic in the mountains and ancient temples, once leaving a famous picnic photo.

Her picnics were also well-equipped, also covered with checkered cloth, with nice snack boxes, glass jugs, and the indispensable bamboo basket.

Lin Huiyin's picnic is also exquisite and good-looking, but it gives a different feeling. Maybe it's because the camera shows her, still talking, beaming, a little mischievous. This is not a posed photo, but an unintentional moment captured at a picnic. That's what makes it so moving.

This shot shows Lin Huiyin and her companions talking, enjoying the nice weather that day and the food they prepared, rather than thinking about going back and posting a photo, thinking about getting a tan.

That's what makes a picnic fun.

It can be a western afternoon tea with salad and avocado, or fried chicken, kebabs and crayfish. It can be a checkered placemat in the Netflix or INS style, or a small folding stool in the sporty style.

Whether it's Chinese style or Netflix style, it shouldn't be cookie-cutter, and it doesn't need to be tanned just for the sake of it.

The point of a picnic, is to be wild. It's about being out in the wild, getting comfortable and having a wild time!

The text is an original Thing Road article.