Inside China's mysterious 'mole-town

24 January 2018

I was looking at the recent thread 4000 yo lost city and came across this article on a mole city in china that dates back to the same time frame according to the article. They say that the mole town is still inhabited today by direct descendants.

A new aerial video has provided a rare glimpse into a mysterious Chinese village where residents have lived in subterranean 'pit yards' for some four millennia. The series of underground dwellings in central China's Henan Province used to have nearly 10,000 homes. Right now, around 3,000 people still live there while the others have moved to modern homes, according to Chinese media.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

a reply to: howtonhawky

Well that adds a whole new dimension to coming home drunk late at night...lol

But seriously, that actually looks like a pretty cool way of living. Obviously flooding isn't a problem so I guess it's a pretty dry and warm place. Would make living underground logic.

Thanks for the interesting find.

Peace

a reply to: howtonhawky

How COOL is that!!!

S&F for you!

Very cool find!

a reply to: howtonhawky

The agrarian potential is strong with this setup.
Live below, grow above!

originally posted by: strongfp
a reply to: howtonhawky

The agrarian potential is strong with this setup.
Live below, grow above!

Thanks, was racking my brain about a good reason(if it is not as hot as in Coober Pedy), had the "But Why" gif in my head.

a reply to: howtonhawky

This is the first time seeing this place for me. I have looked some underground dwellings on YouTube. I saw this one by newearth where the lady travels to Turkey to observe underground dwellings. Apparently, these are very famous. A few people live in them. She herself, stayed in a hotel made out of one of these places. It was cut into rock, very spacious for a hotel room, and attractively decorated. Cool and comfortable but had modern electricity and plumbing.

a reply to: DerBeobachter

Well the ambient temperature underground is 55 degrees Farenheit, so pretty comfortable year round.

OP really cool find, I imagine their "town history" is amazingly rich!

Almost having a panic attack looking at it.

I bet it stinks down there too.
Gulp.

a reply to: howtonhawky

Looks good-I bet its really snug as long as they have some way of circulating fresh air.
I like the sunken courtyards,quite a unique design.
I am a professional insomniac with hypersensitive hearing(bad mix)and some of my most peaceful sleeps ever have been underground-in a disused slate mine which i wasnt really suppose to be in!
Theres something really secure about sleeping underground I think-maybe i'm a vampire

After writing my other post, I looked at link, and the inside is not nearly as sinister as I imagined. The tunnels leading into the caves are bricked and lit, and doesn't look quite so foreboding. Although the residents photographed look extremely impoverished.

A unit cost around 32,000 pounds. Some of those folks must have grown up in them and inherited them.

Anyway. I like looking at weird stuff, and this is pretty weird!

They were originally built during the Bronze age. The buildings are earthquake proof with the arches and being built into the soft ground. Deep wells protect against flooding and provide water. Being sunk into the ground guarantees that any animals and livestock wouldn't wander off, as well as there wouldn't be icy cold draughts when there is a storm - even a solid granite home suffers from this.

OMG I'm such an idiot! I read your headline and then gkanced at the OP but didn't read it before immediately responding with a long post about actual MOLES. KansasGirl steppin' away from the reply button now.

a reply to: howtonhawky

I remember a book called the mole people, my top 5 scifi books.

At first glance, It looks like the home of Owen Lars and his wife Beru on the planet Tatooine, where they raised Luke Skywalker. Should be a nice dwelling for desert life.

originally posted by: theatreboy
a reply to: howtonhawky

I remember a book called the mole people, my top 5 scifi books.

There is an underground home in the UK called Mole Manor. It's an AirBnB hotel now.

hadn't seen this one before. but there is apparently a down under town, down under in Australia.
www.cntraveler.com...

How are these cave-houses built though? One line in the article says they were carved from rock, but that could be a translation error or something.

Is the area full of dirt or is it solid rock????

originally posted by: BlueJacket
a reply to: DerBeobachter

Well the ambient temperature underground is 55 degrees Farenheit, so pretty comfortable year round.

OP really cool find, I imagine their "town history" is amazingly rich!

In the desert ambient temperature underground is around 70. i have been in many underground mines and only the ones in wet country are around 55.

Even this is great if the outside temperature is over 100 in the summer.

a reply to: ANNED

I guess that was my point friend, 30f less ambient....goes a long way

a reply to: generik

Coober Pedy is a hellishly hot dry place where they mine for opals. The miners found it way more practical and comfortable to live underground in the areas they'd carved out of the earth fossicking for riches. Much better than enduring the above ground conditions and they made an artform of it over the years.