China's cave-dwellers resist relocation campaign
Local authorities want "cave-dwellers" to swap their homes for apartments in a nationwide effort to relocate nearly 3 million people. But for many, the caves are home and they want to remain.
Li Caidong, 68, who has lived in a cave his entire life, sits outside his home in Lin county, Shanxi province, China. March 14, 2018.
The "cave-dwellers" of China's Shanxi have called the shelters carved out of slopes and cliffs home for thousands of years.
Local authorities want the cave-dwellers to swap their homes for apartments in a nationwide campaign to relocate 2.8 million people to new homes this year.
The drive is part of efforts to eliminate extreme poverty by the end of 2020 in China, where about 30 million people live on less than a dollar a day.
The relocations are voluntary, say residents of Lin county, but many see no reason to abandon the cave houses.
TRT World's Yasin Eken explains.
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