China's 21st-Century Cave Dwellers: Timeless Homes in Shanxi Province
Cave dwellers' homes. Image by Daniel McCrohan / Lonely Planet.
While China's high-tech construction boom dominates cities like Beijing and Shanghai, an estimated three million people in Shanxi Province continue to thrive in traditional cave dwellings.
These modest homes cluster in remote rural areas, but villages like Lijiashan feature hundreds of caves terraced across nine levels of a hillside, forming entire communities of cave residents.
Cave living in Shanxi dates back approximately 5,000 years. At its peak, a quarter of the population resided underground. Today, about one-twelfth of Shanxi's residents—still millions—live this way, maintaining lifestyles akin to their ancestors.
Lijiashan, a 550-year-old village nestled against a hillside near the Yellow River, exemplifies this tradition. Connected to the national power grid, it lacks running water or sewage systems, so residents rely on the river. Ming Dynasty stone stairways link its nine terraced levels, and many homes feature paper windows instead of glass. Interiors center around kang—large stone beds that stay cool in summer and warm in winter via internal fire cavities.
This ancient lifestyle offers modern benefits prized by architects: deep earth insulation combats extreme temperatures and noise without high energy costs. Minimal materials keep construction affordable and provide superior earthquake resistance, vital in this region.
Yet these communities are declining. Lijiashan, once home to 600 families, now has just over 40. Many caves stand empty or shelter livestock, and the village school serves only four pupils.
Urban opportunities, isolation (an eight-hour, multi-bus trip from Taiyuan), and the uncool image of cave life drive youth away.
Mr. Li's family has resided in Lijiashan for six generations. After his children left for city jobs, he and his wife transformed their 180-year-old courtyard into a guesthouse with cave rooms for art students sketching the unique landscape.
'Only elders remain,' he notes. 'Youth leave for modern apartments, even if just nearby.'
Reach Lijiashan from Taiyuan or Pingyao via Lishi and Qikou. Direct Taiyuan-Qikou buses are rare; Taiyuan is an eight-hour train from Beijing.
