Yan'an Cave Dwellings - Yaodongs

China

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China facts & history in brief                 My China pages directory     Map of China Yaodong Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Yaodong is a dugout used as an abode or shelter in China. Yaodongs are common in north China, especially on the Loess Plateau. The history of yaodongs goes back to time immemorial, and continues today. Yaodongs are usually carved out of a generally vertical side of a loess hill. If the side is not vertical, it must be cut vertical. The silty soil is soft and easy to dig. The cross section of a yaodong is similar to that of a cave: a rectangle in the lower part connected to a semi-circle in the upper part. The width at the floor is from 3 to 4 meters, and the highest point in the ceiling is around 3 meters or higher. The depth of a yaodong can be 5 meters or more. Windows and doors are installed at the opening of the yaodong. The inner side wall is usually plastered with lime to make it white. A platform called kang is built to be used as a bed. A fireplace is built beside the kang and the smoke and hot gas go through the built-in channels inside the kang to heat it before exiting to outdoor through a chimney. The hill, which is practically infinite in thickness, that separates the indoor space and outdoor serves as an effective insulator that keeps the inside of a yaodong warm in cold seasons and cool in hot seasons. Consequently, very little heating is required in winter, and in summer, it is as cool as an air-conditioned room. More exquisite yaodongs may have a facade built with stones with fine patterns carved on the surface. Yaodongs can also be constructed with stones or bricks as stand-alone structures. Often, three or more yaodongs in a row are constructed. First, stones or bricks are used to build the arch-shaped structure, and then soil is used to fill up the external space above the arches to make a thick and flat roof. The most famous yaodongs in China are perhaps those in Yan'an. The communists led by Mao Zedong headquartered here in 1935-1948 and lived in yaodongs. Edgar Snow visited Mao and his party in Yan'an and wrote Red Star Over China. An estimated 40 million people in northern China live in a yaodong. For a more information about Yaodong see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This page was retrieved and condensed from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaodong) see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, November 2007. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details). About Wikipedia Disclaimers This information was correct in November 2007. E. & O.E. Hui Chin and I caught a bus from Xi'an to Yanan, a four hours, quite enjoyable trip as we seen rural north China on our way getting there. We were very anxious to see the cave dwellers of northern China and we were told the place is another 60 kilometres from Yanan. Of course we were very suprised to see many cave dwellings on our way to Yan'an. In Yan'n we were in for another great surprise as the hills all around Yanan are full of cave dwellings. We walked up to some of the cave dwllings and were fortunate enough to be invited into one of the dwellings and the very nice people was happy to tell us the long history of the extended family and we were even been invited for lunch. Mum and Dad spent most of their life in the caves, which is nice and warm in winter and cool in summer. They had most of the modern comforts, like electricity, TV, refrigirator, computers etc. They have to bring the water up from the city and the drainage system isn't the most modern either, mostly left to gravity. Mum and Dad are very happy to spend the rest of their life in their present abode, but most of the young ones left the caves for a more urbane city dwellings. The few days we spent in Yan'an was filled with drama enjoyable interaction with the local people. We've enjoyed Yan'an city. Yan'an 2007 You can click on these photos for an enlargement. Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings   Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an from the Cave Dwellings Yan'an from the Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellers Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellers Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dweller Yan'an Cave Dweller Yan'an Cave Dweller Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dweller Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings   Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings   Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings Yan'an Cave Dwellings

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