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The cave dwellers of Li Jiahou

The "Great Loess Plateau" in the North-East portion of China is a vast, arid territory the size of Texas. Some 40 million Chinese live here in earthen caves. Carved into the soft cliffs along the banks of the Yellow River, these modern day cave dwellings, or Yao dong , constitute the only possible form of habitat in the region, for wood and stone building materials are virtually nonexistant here. Every year, tens of thousands of new caves are built. They are used for schools, factories, barracks, hospitals, etc. On the same scale as conventional towns and villages, when linked together into a community these caves are like giant human ant-hills, teaming with activity. The Chinese government has long sought to keep these modern-day troglodytes out of view : they do not represent the best image of a progressive rural China. Inhabited by some of the country's least privileged peasants, they reveal a lifestyle that has, despite efforts at "com-munist education," scarcely changed for centuries. The Cave Dwellers of Li-Jiahou proposes a unique insight into the "heart of China" that is in such blatant contrast to the China of the "great economic miracle," through telling the story of an old cave builder in Gansu. A 52 minutes documentary produced by Christian Cascio and directed by Isabelle Roumeguere. A World Life-France 3 coproduction in association with TSR and NRK.