Zhongdong (Chinese: 中洞; lit. 'Middle Cave') is a village within Zhong Cave in Ziyun county of Anshun Prefecture, in Guizhou Province of China. The village is located within the Getu River Scenic Area (格凸河穿洞风景名胜区) in Shuitang Town.[citation needed]
It is thought to be the only inhabited, year-round settlement in China located inside a naturally occurring cave.[1] The limestone Zhong Cave is the largest of three local caves, set between an upper and lower cave that are uninhabited.[1]
Zhong Cave is 230 m (750 ft) long, 115 m (377 ft) wide, and 50 m (160 ft) high,[2] comparable in size to over one and a half soccer fields.[3]
The cave, at 1,800 m (5,900 ft) in elevation, is only accessible on foot after over an hour's hike.[4][3]
Some villagers claim that the village was settled after the 1949 Communist Revolution to escape banditry, while others claim that the village has been there for countless generations before then.[5]
Twenty families, of the Miao ethnic minority, live in the cave, growing corn on the mountain and raising chickens, pigs, and cows.[5] Water is collected from dripping stones,[2] with shortages during the dry season.[1] In 2007, the villagers began building a concrete reservoir to improve water security. As of 2007, the village had a population of close to 100.[2]
The village's houses have woven bamboo walls, and are unique for having no roofs, relying on the cave's natural shelter.[3] The village relies on wood-fired hearths for heat and cooking, but electrical service was set up in the last decade, powering lights and a small number of appliances such as television sets and washing machines.[1]
The Chinese government built concrete housing below the mountain for the Zhongdong villagers, but they refused to move there, citing the housing as substandard.[1] The village has one primary school with six classes and 200 students, many of whom are boarders from other local villages,[6] and it is possibly the only cave school in the world.
25°41′12″N 106°17′33″E / 25.68667°N 106.29250°E / 25.68667; 106.29250