6 ms·

In China, millions make themselves at home in caves

68 points by maqr 15y ago

H_E_Pennypacker 15y ago
The exterior: http://i.imgur.com/2x7b4.jpg http://i.imgur.com/2x7b4.jpg
- israelpasos 15y ago
  Where is this?
psykotic 15y ago
Just yesterday I happened to watch the first episode of BBC's Wild China. The section on caves goes into this, and among other things shows a small village school built inside a giant cave. Here's a picture: http://static.bbc.co.uk/programmeimages/640x360/clip/p009j8qz.jpg http://static.bbc.co.uk/programmeimages/640x360/clip/p009j8q...
- steveF 15y ago
  Two things are totally different... The cave mentioned in the article only exists in northern China and is man made. While the cave in the picture you post is in souther China and is natural cave.
- edwinnathaniel 15y ago
  BBC's Wild China series is one of the most awesome documentaries I've ever watched. Coincidentally, it was the first series I watched when I got my Netflix account :).
  - psykotic 15y ago
    While we're handing out recommendations, check out of the BBC documentary Human Planet. The name might suggest otherwise, but it breaks out of the increasingly stale Attenborough mold. It's as much anthropology as nature documentary, even more so than Wild China.
_delirium 15y ago
This used to be common in parts of Europe as well, until not that long ago. There are still inhabited houses set into cliffs in parts of France, e.g. around Chinon (http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/6368827 http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/6368827), and some in Italy have become tourist destinations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassi_di_Matera http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassi_di_Matera).
- masklinn 15y ago
  Common as well in first-millenium middle-east, as in Petra[0] or Mada'in Saleh[1], and there were quite a few cliff-dwelling people in precolumbian north-america, the most well known probably being the Anasazi which had well-known under-outcropping dwellings (e.g. Cliff Palace) but also actual cave dwellings like Tsankwawi[2] or very-close-to-cave dwellings like the House of Many Windows[3]. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mada%27in_Saleh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mada%27in_Saleh [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsankawi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsankawi [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:House_of_Many_Windows.JPG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:House_of_Many_Windows.JPG
  - bane 15y ago
    also just dig straight down. http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/africa/bet-giyorgis-church.shtml http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/africa/bet-giyorg...
- davidw 15y ago
  On a much smaller scale (one house), but I went for a walk here today: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Costozza,+Longare,+Italia&hl=en&ll=45.471538,11.601112&spn=0.01258,0.033023&sll=45.384392,11.87036&sspn=0.012539,0.033023&oq=costozz&hnear=Costozza,+Longare+Vicenza,+Veneto,+Italy&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=45.47163,11.601087&panoid=1e_4adeWmS0xaoVPs_s5BQ&cbp=12,295.26,,0,-14.91 http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Costozza,+Longare,+Italia&... BTW, spinning the view around gives a nice view of the area, which is quite pretty.
- WiseWeasel 15y ago
dhx 15y ago
Not all the cave dwellings have nicely bricked exteriors and modern interiors: [1] https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sookyeeyap/sets/72157602311169026/with/1512402593/ https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sookyeeyap/sets/72157602311... [2] http://yapsookyee.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/ningxia-part-1-dirt-poor-technology.html http://yapsookyee.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/ningxia-part-1-dir... (Ningxia - Zhangjiashu village, by Sookyee) The most interesting aspect is how quickly China is changing. Within a single generation, families have moved out of "holes in the mud" to village houses. Satellite TV and mobile phone coverage is also apparently available in Zhangjiashu village (and other similar remote villages). Cave dwellings or yaodong still exist for some poorer families. “I used to live in a cave dwelling when I first got married,” said Ma Yan’s mother, Bai Juhua. “Very few people live in one of those anymore. Recently, a few of them collapsed because of the rain. Thank goodness nobody was hurt.” ... They may not have drinking water, no proper toilet, no food…but they will definitely have mobile phones and satellite dishes for their TV.
- ocdprogrammer 15y ago
  Almost everything written in the west about China, is biased against them. Don't waste your time reading highly partial and non-informative bullshit like this. Go visit China if you care, or just mind your own business if you don't.
shimon_e 15y ago
There was a guy on 4chan that went crazy and lived in a hole. Later he moved into a cave. http://4chanarchive.org/brchive/dspl_thread.php5?thread_id=6938187&x=I+live+in+a+hole http://4chanarchive.org/brchive/dspl_thread.php5?thread_id=6...
Alind 15y ago
From the outside of Yaodong, actually it is very nice. And you know, living in this place. It's warm in winter and _COOL_ in summer. And IT IS very stable and safe. Don't be misunderstood by word _CAVE_. http://i.imgur.com/2x7b4.jpg http://i.imgur.com/2x7b4.jpg
veb 15y ago
Interesting article. I wasn't aware people still lived in caves... shows how much I don't know about the world.
- airbai 15y ago
  Actually, the cave you saw is very near my hometown, it is not that bad. The ventilation in it is good, and currently we have modern household electrical appliances as well. Lots of local people adopted all things that exists in normal buildings, such as TV cable, Internet access, cars parked their own in the yard, etc. You can refer to photoes at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g528735-d1307902-Reviews-Yang_Jia_Ling_Cave_Hotel-Yan_an_Shaanxi.html http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g528735-d1307902-Rev...
gojomo 15y ago
I would wonder a lot about air quality – radon accumulation or other local equivalents. Might not be worse than fumes and wear traces from other modern building materials, though.
6ren 15y ago
Still common in Coober Pedy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coober_Pedy,_South_Australia#Overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coober_Pedy,_South_Australia#Ov...

68 points by maqr 15y ago

H_E_Pennypacker 15y ago

The exterior: http://i.imgur.com/2x7b4.jpg http://i.imgur.com/2x7b4.jpg

israelpasos 15y ago
Where is this?

psykotic 15y ago

Just yesterday I happened to watch the first episode of BBC's Wild China. The section on caves goes into this, and among other things shows a small village school built inside a giant cave. Here's a picture: http://static.bbc.co.uk/programmeimages/640x360/clip/p009j8qz.jpg http://static.bbc.co.uk/programmeimages/640x360/clip/p009j8q...

steveF 15y ago
Two things are totally different... The cave mentioned in the article only exists in northern China and is man made. While the cave in the picture you post is in souther China and is natural cave.
edwinnathaniel 15y ago
BBC's Wild China series is one of the most awesome documentaries I've ever watched. Coincidentally, it was the first series I watched when I got my Netflix account :).
- psykotic 15y ago
  While we're handing out recommendations, check out of the BBC documentary Human Planet. The name might suggest otherwise, but it breaks out of the increasingly stale Attenborough mold. It's as much anthropology as nature documentary, even more so than Wild China.

_delirium 15y ago

This used to be common in parts of Europe as well, until not that long ago. There are still inhabited houses set into cliffs in parts of France, e.g. around Chinon (http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/6368827 http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/6368827), and some in Italy have become tourist destinations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassi_di_Matera http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassi_di_Matera).

masklinn 15y ago
Common as well in first-millenium middle-east, as in Petra[0] or Mada'in Saleh[1], and there were quite a few cliff-dwelling people in precolumbian north-america, the most well known probably being the Anasazi which had well-known under-outcropping dwellings (e.g. Cliff Palace) but also actual cave dwellings like Tsankwawi[2] or very-close-to-cave dwellings like the House of Many Windows[3]. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mada%27in_Saleh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mada%27in_Saleh [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsankawi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsankawi [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:House_of_Many_Windows.JPG http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:House_of_Many_Windows.JPG
- bane 15y ago
  also just dig straight down. http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/africa/bet-giyorgis-church.shtml http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/africa/bet-giyorg...
davidw 15y ago
On a much smaller scale (one house), but I went for a walk here today: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Costozza,+Longare,+Italia&hl=en&ll=45.471538,11.601112&spn=0.01258,0.033023&sll=45.384392,11.87036&sspn=0.012539,0.033023&oq=costozz&hnear=Costozza,+Longare+Vicenza,+Veneto,+Italy&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=45.47163,11.601087&panoid=1e_4adeWmS0xaoVPs_s5BQ&cbp=12,295.26,,0,-14.91 http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Costozza,+Longare,+Italia&... BTW, spinning the view around gives a nice view of the area, which is quite pretty.
WiseWeasel 15y ago

dhx 15y ago

Not all the cave dwellings have nicely bricked exteriors and modern interiors: [1] https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sookyeeyap/sets/72157602311169026/with/1512402593/ https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sookyeeyap/sets/72157602311... [2] http://yapsookyee.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/ningxia-part-1-dirt-poor-technology.html http://yapsookyee.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/ningxia-part-1-dir... (Ningxia - Zhangjiashu village, by Sookyee) The most interesting aspect is how quickly China is changing. Within a single generation, families have moved out of "holes in the mud" to village houses. Satellite TV and mobile phone coverage is also apparently available in Zhangjiashu village (and other similar remote villages). Cave dwellings or yaodong still exist for some poorer families. “I used to live in a cave dwelling when I first got married,” said Ma Yan’s mother, Bai Juhua. “Very few people live in one of those anymore. Recently, a few of them collapsed because of the rain. Thank goodness nobody was hurt.” ... They may not have drinking water, no proper toilet, no food…but they will definitely have mobile phones and satellite dishes for their TV.

ocdprogrammer 15y ago
Almost everything written in the west about China, is biased against them. Don't waste your time reading highly partial and non-informative bullshit like this. Go visit China if you care, or just mind your own business if you don't.

shimon_e 15y ago

There was a guy on 4chan that went crazy and lived in a hole. Later he moved into a cave. http://4chanarchive.org/brchive/dspl_thread.php5?thread_id=6938187&x=I+live+in+a+hole http://4chanarchive.org/brchive/dspl_thread.php5?thread_id=6...

Alind 15y ago

From the outside of Yaodong, actually it is very nice. And you know, living in this place. It's warm in winter and _COOL_ in summer. And IT IS very stable and safe. Don't be misunderstood by word _CAVE_. http://i.imgur.com/2x7b4.jpg http://i.imgur.com/2x7b4.jpg

veb 15y ago

Interesting article. I wasn't aware people still lived in caves... shows how much I don't know about the world.

airbai 15y ago
Actually, the cave you saw is very near my hometown, it is not that bad. The ventilation in it is good, and currently we have modern household electrical appliances as well. Lots of local people adopted all things that exists in normal buildings, such as TV cable, Internet access, cars parked their own in the yard, etc. You can refer to photoes at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g528735-d1307902-Reviews-Yang_Jia_Ling_Cave_Hotel-Yan_an_Shaanxi.html http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g528735-d1307902-Rev...

gojomo 15y ago

I would wonder a lot about air quality – radon accumulation or other local equivalents. Might not be worse than fumes and wear traces from other modern building materials, though.

6ren 15y ago

Still common in Coober Pedy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coober_Pedy,_South_Australia#Overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coober_Pedy,_South_Australia#Ov...