Traditional cave dwellings known as yaodong in northwestern China continue to provide residents with natural climate control and deep cultural connections, representing centuries of architectural wisdom that harmonizes human habitation with the natural environment. These unique underground homes, carved directly into loess hillsides, maintain comfortable temperatures year-round without modern heating or cooling systems.
Han Xiulin, who has lived in Zhangjiata village in North China's Shanxi Province for over 40 years, shares her courtyard with her husband and four traditional yaodong cave dwellings. These architectural marvels appear like "the earth's open eyes" embedded in mountain walls, resembling underground corridors that stretch deep beneath thick layers of loess soil. The ingenious design allows sunlight to illuminate garden areas where vegetables like green onions thrive, while maintaining cool, dry conditions in living and storage spaces.
Meanwhile, over 200 kilometers away in Zhenjiawan village in Yan'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, master stonemason Zhen Suiyang continues the ancient tradition of building and repairing cave dwellings for fellow villagers. Using yellow loess mud to secure red bricks, Zhen describes the construction process as "borrowing a house from the earth," since all materials come from the land itself. When abandoned caves eventually collapse, they naturally return to loess, embodying the complete cycle of "from nature, back to nature."
Bai Yun, the Party secretary of Zhenjiawan village, explains that villagers of all ages feel drawn to return to their cave dwellings to recharge their spirits, rest on heated earthen beds called kang, and enjoy bowls of millet porridge cooked inside the caves. The yaodong represents their roots, and no matter where life takes them, the distinctive scent of loess soil always calls them home.
Zhenjiawan village, founded during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), has endured for more than seven centuries and now features 97 courtyards and 258 caves, forming the largest and best-preserved cave-dwelling village in northern Shaanxi Province. When viewed from above on the loess plateau, rows of cave dwellings cut neatly into the mountainside rise in layered sequences from the ravines, with a small river winding through the landscape. This scenic area, known as Qingping Bay, was once depicted in works by renowned writer Shi Tiesheng.
Stonemason Zhen, who has worked on village cave dwellings for more than four decades, describes each construction project as "having a conversation with nature." The process begins with selecting a sun-facing cliff surface, then using pickaxes to carve out a steep cliff wall and digging inward to form an arched cavity. Workers smooth the walls with a mixture of wheat straw and loess called "mud plaster," then carefully carry stones up and down hills, securing them with loess mud and adjusting angles until they hold properly.
"The hardest part is always getting the arch right, the angle of the entrance," Zhen told reporters. "Back then we had no tools besides a ruler." Skilled cave artisans also construct the distinctive heated earthen beds known as kang, along with stoves and chimneys. Every traditional cave features a kang bed rather than regular beds, and master craftsmen ensure smooth smoke ventilation without backflow, efficient wood usage, and high heat retention.
Zhen Chunyan, who left for city work but returned to the village in her thirties, still remembers village elders saying, "Cave dwellings are like quilts made of loess for us, warm in winter and cool in summer, and all without spending money on electricity." In her family's yaodong, a kang bed stretches from the window to the stove, with cooking smoke flowing through the "fire channel" beneath to provide warmth. During evenings, families gather on the kang to eat and chat while children play.
The practical design features continue with cave doors facing southeast to avoid cold northwest winds while allowing sunlight from morning through afternoon. Windows use a "grid-style" design, covered with translucent hemp paper in winter for insulation and opened in summer for ventilation. Professor Duan Degang from Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, who has researched yaodong architecture for years, notes that these centuries-old cave villages embody traditional Chinese philosophy of maintaining harmony between humans and nature.
Beyond practical shelter, yaodong cave dwellings serve as vessels of heritage and cultural continuity in village life. Every wedding, funeral, and festival remains intimately connected to these earthen homes. When couples marry, bright red "double happiness" characters are pasted on cave walls, new bedding spreads across kang beds, and elders comb brides' hair inside the yaodong while blessing the couple to "take root in the yellow earth and enjoy a flourishing life."
During Spring Festival celebrations, yaodong windows transform into "vibrant canvases" decorated with red paper cuttings shaped like magpies and grain sheaves. When sunlight streams through, their auspicious shadows dance across cave walls. On Chinese New Year's first day, the entire village visits each household in turn, stepping through cave doorways to pay respects to the Kitchen God and share bowls of homemade rice wine. Zhen Chunyan remembers her family's yaodong door remaining wide open during these celebrations, welcoming any passerby to enter and share moments of warmth.
In Zhangjiata village, with its 300-year history, yaodong cave dwellings strengthen community bonds among the 506 households through interconnected tunnel networks. These tunnels allow residents to move freely between dwellings, making the entire village resemble an inverted version of the Chinese character for "fortune." During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), villagers used these underground networks as vital communication channels for passing messages and distributing food among neighbors.
"To earn a living through our own hands, wisdom, and diligence has always been our family motto since ancient times, and it's been passed down to this day," explains Wang Jianhua, a Zhangjiata villager. These words have become a time-honored creed shaped by countless days and nights spent building, repairing, and living in yaodong cave dwellings.
Today, these ancient villages have entered a new chapter of development and preservation. In Zhenjiawan village, newly built yaodong cave dwellings have been converted into guesthouses for visitors, while carefully preserved older caves serve as film sets. The village manages farmland collectively with shared profits among residents, and agricultural products reach new markets through livestreaming sales.
Zhangjiata village has transformed some caves with tunnels into an underground folk museum, displaying tools used by previous generations, components of ancient architecture, and photographs documenting village history. Other loess plateau villages maintain cave dwellings' primary living functions while utilizing adjacent caves for modern amenities like independent bathrooms with temperature-controlled showers and smart toilets. Solar-powered lights now illuminate cave entrances to help villagers navigate home safely.
As visitor numbers gradually increase, villagers have begun recognizing the cultural significance of their daily living spaces. "Every brick and tile here represents our collective memory of the village. Now, I want to share my stories with more people," says Wang, who has become a local tour guide. This growing awareness ensures that the wisdom of yaodong cave dwellings will continue inspiring future generations while adapting to modern needs.
