There was a guy on 4chan that went crazy and lived in a hole. Later he moved into a cave. http://4chanarchive.org/brchive/dspl_thread.php5?thread_id=6...
In China, millions make themselves at home in caves
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Re: In China, millions make themselves at home in caves
#12From the outside of Yaodong, actually it is very nice.
And you know, living in this place. It's warm in winter and _COOL_ in summer. And IT IS very stable and safe. Don't be misunderstood by word _CAVE_. http://i.imgur.com/2x7b4.jpg
Re: In China, millions make themselves at home in caves
#13Interesting article. I wasn't aware people still lived in caves... shows how much I don't know about the world.
Re: In China, millions make themselves at home in caves
#14This used to be common in parts of Europe as well, until not that long ago. There are still inhabited houses set into cliffs in parts of France, e.g. around Chinon ( http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/6368827 ), and some in Italy have become tourist destinations ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassi_di_Matera ).
On a much smaller scale (one house), but I went for a walk here today:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Costozza,+Longare,+Italia&...
BTW, spinning the view around gives a nice view of the area, which is quite pretty.
Re: In China, millions make themselves at home in caves
#15Just yesterday I happened to watch the first episode of BBC's Wild China. The section on caves goes into this, and among other things shows a small village school built inside a giant cave. Here's a picture: http://static.bbc.co.uk/programmeimages/640x360/clip/p009j8q...
BBC's Wild China series is one of the most awesome documentaries I've ever watched.
Coincidentally, it was the first series I watched when I got my Netflix account :).
Re: In China, millions make themselves at home in caves
#16I would wonder a lot about air quality – radon accumulation or other local equivalents. Might not be worse than fumes and wear traces from other modern building materials, though.
Re: In China, millions make themselves at home in caves
#17This used to be common in parts of Europe as well, until not that long ago. There are still inhabited houses set into cliffs in parts of France, e.g. around Chinon ( http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/6368827 ), and some in Italy have become tourist destinations ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassi_di_Matera ).
In Granada, Spain, there are a bunch of such "cave dwellings" in the hill above the Alhambra Palace, from the inside looking quite similar to the photo in this story, small rooms with lime whitewash on the walls. I was graciously invited for an evening in one of those places, and while it was a bit cramped, and maybe a bit roughly furnished (you must use an out-house in most cases, if you were wondering, and the plumbing and electricity can be a challenge), it was agreeable and the temperature stays in a comfortable range in temperate climates.
Here's an interesting and brief travel documentary featuring some info on the cave dwellings in the second half:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMdeBviSO4I
And though I hate to link to the Daily Fail, they do have a nice little overview guide of Granada with a good picture of the cave dwellings from the outside and a bit of historical info here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-569192/Granada-Des...
P.S. Go see Granada!
Re: In China, millions make themselves at home in caves
#18Still common in Coober Pedy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coober_Pedy,_South_Australia#Ov...
Re: In China, millions make themselves at home in caves
#19Just yesterday I happened to watch the first episode of BBC's Wild China. The section on caves goes into this, and among other things shows a small village school built inside a giant cave. Here's a picture: http://static.bbc.co.uk/programmeimages/640x360/clip/p009j8q...
BBC's Wild China series is one of the most awesome documentaries I've ever watched. Coincidentally, it was the first series I watched when I got my Netflix account :).
While we're handing out recommendations, check out of the BBC documentary Human Planet. The name might suggest otherwise, but it breaks out of the increasingly stale Attenborough mold. It's as much anthropology as nature documentary, even more so than Wild China.
Re: In China, millions make themselves at home in caves
#20Interesting article. I wasn't aware people still lived in caves... shows how much I don't know about the world.
Actually, the cave you saw is very near my hometown, it is not that bad. The ventilation in it is good, and currently we have modern household electrical appliances as well.
Lots of local people adopted all things that exists in normal buildings, such as TV cable, Internet access, cars parked their own in the yard, etc.
You can refer to photoes at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g528735-d1307902-Rev...