Lijiashan Village is located on the coast of the Yellow River in Luliang City of Shanxi province. Even today, all habitants of the village are living in caves. Lijiashan Village lies next to the old trading port town called Qikou. The Yellow River is getting so narrow in this area that it is no longer possible to transport goods on the river. That is why Qikou become one of the most important ports in China during the ancient times. In those times, Qikou had around six hundred families living here and some thousands of port workers.
From Qikou town, it is about a one hour walk to the cave dwellings Lijiashan. The name literally means ‘Mountain of the Li family’. On first sight, you can see that no poor people lived here. There are some poor caves as well, but most of them have huge, beautiful gates and some of them even have small yards. Nobody has destroyed it until today, so everything is still in its original form. But the flow of time has touched this place. Nowadays, these cave villas are a memory of the richness for people that was here in ancient days past.
At present, just a few old people are left here and they are having a free life in these small cave houses dug into the mountain. Some of these ancient houses have been turned into small hotels. Most of these houses have more than five hundred years of history. They are on nine levels of terrace hills; the stairs connecting them are all original from the ancient
Ming dynasty. No windows have glass. They are all still made from paper. Some of the gates head directly to the cave in the mountain, some of them first head into the small yards and then each room is a small cave dug into the mountain. There are no beds in the small hotels, just traditional Chinese kang. This is a big stone bed with an empty space underneath where people can build a fire during cold winters. During the summer, the stone works as a natural coolant as well.
It is rewarding to run away from busy city to Lijiashan Village. The only thing you can hear here is the sound of nature. For most people, it perfectly represents the majesty, loneliness and magical atmosphere of this place.
Travel Tips
Address: Lijiashan Village, Qikou National Scenic Area, Lin County, Luliang City
Telephone: 0358-4467001
Opening hours: open all day
Entrance Fees: free
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