
In China, millions make themselves at home in caves - maqr
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-caves-20120318,0,2352472.story
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psykotic
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/p009j8q...](http://static.bbc.co.uk/programmeimages/640x360/clip/p009j8qz.jpg)

~~~
edwinnathaniel
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 :).

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psykotic
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.

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_delirium
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>), and some in Italy
have become tourist destinations
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassi_di_Matera>).

~~~
masklinn
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>

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mada%27in_Saleh>

[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsankawi>

[3] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:House_of_Many_Windows.JPG>

~~~
bane
also just dig straight down.
[http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/africa/bet-
giyorg...](http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/africa/bet-giyorgis-
church.shtml)

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shimon_e
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=6...](http://4chanarchive.org/brchive/dspl_thread.php5?thread_id=6938187&x=I+live+in+a+hole)

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dhx
Not all the cave dwellings have nicely bricked exteriors and modern interiors:

[1]
[https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sookyeeyap/sets/72157602311...](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sookyeeyap/sets/72157602311169026/with/1512402593/)

[2] [http://yapsookyee.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/ningxia-
part-1-dir...](http://yapsookyee.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/ningxia-part-1-dirt-
poor-technology.html)

(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._

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

~~~
israelpasos
Where is this?

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6ren
Still common in Coober Pedy
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coober_Pedy,_South_Australia#Ov...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coober_Pedy,_South_Australia#Overview)

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gojomo
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.

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

~~~
airbai
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-Rev...](http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g528735-d1307902-Reviews-
Yang_Jia_Ling_Cave_Hotel-Yan_an_Shaanxi.html)

