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Other lost villages in China
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THOUSANDS of villages in China are disappearing. According to Feng Jicai, a famous author and artist dedicated to the preservation of traditional villages, China had 3.6 million villages in 2000, a number that dropped to 2.7 million by 2010. That means 900,000 villages vanished in 10 years.
Maijieping Village
Henan Province
There are only four residents remaining in Maijieping Village, which sits virtually hidden in a mountainous area 800 meters above sea level in Yanshi City of central China’s Henan Province.
It’s too remote for all but the most hardy to live, as there are no roads for vehicles and the only way to reach the village is by walking at least two hours.
In the 1990s, more than 100 villagers abandoned their ancestral houses and terraced fields there and moved away. Only two couples stayed. They live at the west end and east end of the village.
Nankeng Village
Jiangxi Province
In the west of Jiangxi Province, Nankeng Village was built deep in the mountains in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Among green mountains and clear waters, 31 houses were built, all with blue bricks and black tiles on their wooden structures. However, only one man still lives there. He is Zhong Zhaowu, 64.
Twenty years ago, Heshui Town, where Nankeng is located, was the richest in its county, Anyi. Villagers made money by selling timber harvested on the mountain. But when the government took action to protect the forest, the villagers lost their way to make a living.
Finding themselves impoverished, people started migrating to where they could find jobs. Like most other villages, young people left first, followed by middle-aged men and women. After that, they brought their parents and children away from the village.
Shibao Village
Henan Province
Only five villagers are left in Shibao Village, who live alone at the end of a mountain road 6 kilometers long. The bumpy road is less than 2 meters wide, with a steep slope. It is arduous for people to visit, even if they are “neighbors.”
It was only two years ago that the village got access to telecommunications. The isolation the villagers endured was even tougher than poverty.
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