In China, there is a 4,000-year-old ancient village with strange architecture in Sanmenxiae city, Henan province, surprising domestic and foreign tourists.
According to the description of many people, this village is “invisible” because when they arrive, they can only hear voices but not see people, only see trees but not houses.
Accordingly, underground is a dense network of thousands of different houses here. According to historical records, this type of housing, called Yaodong, has existed for millennia underground in the country of billions of people.
There are even many houses where 6 generations of families live together.
For more than 4000 years, the households here lived only underground.
People have come up with the idea of making this special house to cope with the extreme heat in the summer and the piercing cold in the winter.
The temperature inside these houses reaches more than 10 degrees Celsius in winter and 20 degrees Celsius in summer, helping residents avoid extreme weather.
In addition, it has the effect of reducing earthquake damage and good sound insulation.
Usually, these special houses are in the form of squares or rectangles with sides of 10-12m, located deep in the ground. According to Chinese media, Henan province used to have nearly 10,000 underground houses.
At the present time, about 3,000 people still live in these special houses while the rest have moved to live in modern houses. In 2011, these special houses were listed by the Chinese government as a form of intangible cultural heritage and are currently being preserved.
According to records, the origin of Yaodong can be traced back to the Bronze Age, when people lived in cave dwellings and they became widespread during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
These special houses are square or rectangular in shape, located deep in the ground.
Today, this type of housing is modernized with many electronics and other essential amenities that make it look like any house on the ground. All activities of the people are included in the house. A special feature is that the drainage system is also cleverly designed to ensure that water will escape without flooding.
According to Sohu, it takes people 2-3 years to complete a house about 6-7m above the ground. But with a “built” house, subsequent generations of the family can live for hundreds of years. Currently, the people who still live in these houses are mostly the elderly and those who cannot afford to build or buy modern houses on the ground. Therefore, these houses are gradually abandoned and abandoned.
By 2011, the local government had introduced policies to preserve this ancient village and try to turn it into a popular tourist destination. These special houses are also rented at a relatively low cost, however, to buy a whole house, visitors also have to spend a good amount of money.
According to Dailymail, a basic one-bedroom house with no plumbing can be rented for around £21 a month. Meanwhile, a fully furnished house with three bedrooms plus one bathroom can sell for around £32,000.
