Staying in a cave house in China

 

Well if I did have a bucket list I suppose this would count as a tick, because last night I stayed in a cave house in China.

I knew, because these things stick in your mind, that there are still several million people who live in cave houses in Northeast China. The number has fallen a lot in the last 50 years, and I think particularly since the economic reforms that made Chinese farmers gradually more economically independent, but there are still huge numbers of these houses, and some people have recognised the value of them for all sorts of reasons, including tourism. 

Now let's roll back a bit. When I said 'cave' I know that some of you immediately went all Fred Flintstone and started going 'ugh!' and worrying about wolves, but goodness me, it's not like that at all. The house I stayed in last night is what is known in these parts as a 'dikeng' (地坑), which is a square pit about 50 feet square, dug down about 15 feet into the easily-diggable loess soil, and then furnished with nine or ten side-chambers dug into the sides of the pit. There is a wall, a door and windows on the front of each side-chamber. Each chamber counts as a cave and would in the past have accommodated a family or part of an individual extended family. The pic at the top is looking down into the dikeng where I am staying. And the following video will eventually show you the front of my room.

It is quite cozy and has the shape of the original ( because this is an original but renovated dikeng, set up for homestays). It has now been fitted with a bathroom and full plumbing, which would not have been the case in the past. But one very interesting thing which it still does not have is air-conditioning. Now to stay in an above-ground house without air-conditioning in this part of China would be a big no-no. It was 33 degrees yesterday and can get much hotter. All buildings and houses have Aircon, but I slept perfectly comfortably last night because the eight feet of loess above my head has brilliant thermal qualities in summer and in winter. So the dikeng is naturally 'green'. The shade provided by the square pit is also very welcome, and there is often a shade tree planted in the centre. In mine there is a grape vine on a groaning trellis. 

I also spent quite a long time talking to the man who runs this homestay with his wife. His name is Wang Hong Tao and he said (using the translator on his phone) that the local villagers said he was mad to try this back in 2020 ("throwing money into a hole" was perhaps the phrase), but now it seems to be paying dividends, and he has two dikeng open and is renovating a third one (see the pic below). 

I am the only visitor tonight but at the weekend he has a local tour party of 30 coming to stay, and it is becoming a very popular thing to do. 

Now one final point I should make clear is that, although it would obviously be nice for more people from abroad to come and try this, the main and growing market is Chinese tourists. Economic growth means that many people are now very keen to enjoy parts of their home country that they have never seen. And also to appreciate cultural phenomena which are extremely distinctive and valuable. 

Mr Wang said that the latest research dates the dikeng house type back to about 4000 BC in this area! And the renovated house I am staying in could be extremely old. Certainly the degree of continuity and the local conditions that produced this culture are remarkable. And I'm so glad that preservation may make people - Chinese and Western - re-evaluate what is here so that it is not lost. And if you want his phone number, I can give you it! Here we are, with the Yellow River way down behind us.