China's last caveman and woman have finally decided to leave behind their home in the cave village of Kahongdong, to be closer to their family in the city.
Tan Wenyan, 82, and his wife Wei Meilin, 70, are the last remaining residents who made their homes in the ten flats carved from the rock in the 50 metres deep and 60 metres high cave. Nine other families used to lived in the village in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, but urbanisation, a need to be closer to jobs, and a desire for more comfortable lifestyles led most to migrate to cities. Many of the families moved to subsided housing nearby where they work.
The couple have had electricity and running water in their home since 2008, but have finally submitted to family pressure to move to a city so that they can see them more. They will leave behind a cave that their ancestors made home almost two centuries ago. The pair have two sons and four daughters of all whom live in towns, apart from the youngest son.
Cave villages will soon be extinct in China, however the government has revealed possible plans to turn the Kahongdong cave into a museum once the elderly couple leave. The village already draws interest from visitors who call in on the pair to experience daily life underground.
Xi Jinping was once a cave dweller. China's president lived in a cave house as a teenager, when he was sent to rural Shaanxi province during the Cultural Revolution.
[Image via Daily Mail]
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