Cave Dwellings 2008-5-29 15:22:59
Many labouring people on the Loess Plateau in northwest China live in caves dug into the mountains. The caves are laid out in rows one atop the other, looking like buildings of multiple floors in the distance.
These cave dwellings were either tunnelled into the face of a stupendous cliff or scooped into a cross-section of the Loess Plateau. A cave dwelling is usually six metres deep and four metres wide.
Stone slabs are piled up to form a semicircle at the entrance, which is decorated with exquisite latticed windows in a variety of styles. There are also arched cave dwellings of masonry that are covered with earth, which is definitely a variation between stone and loess structures.
The beauty about the cave dwellings is that they help maintain local topography and save on farmlands by making use of space that would have been otherwise left unused. They are warm in winter and cool in summer. The temperature inside is usually 13 degrees Celsius higher than in the open in winter and 10 degrees Celsius lower in summer. Moreover, the cave dwellings are sequestered in peace and quiet as they are shut from the noise of the outside world. There are drawbacks as well. For example, daylighting is poor, humidity high in summer, and ventilation leaves much to be desired.
Statistics show that 40 million live in cave dwellings that are scattered over an area of 600,000 square km in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. In recent years curious visitors and scholars are arriving in droves to study the loess cave dwellings.
