Turn back the clock

Han Shuangniu and his wife Liu Qiaoxiu operate a small family inn in the village.[Photo by Li Yang/China Daily]

The old villagers from 10 families treat one another like family members. They do almost everything together, such as working on the farm, celebrating festivals and worshipping ancestors.

"As long as I can take care of myself, I feel happy," says Han Shuangniu, a 78-year-old villager operating a small family inn with his 75-year-old wife Liu Qiaoxiu.

"I plant the vegetables and grains myself. I don't use any pesticides or chemical fertilizer. I am happy the city people love our diet so much," Liu says, with a strong local accent.

"I like visitors. They bring vitality to the dying village. But I find they tend to buy, or even steal, everything old in the village－a basket, a candlestick, a lever scale, a wooden windowsill or even a rotten door threshold."

Han Shuangniu is also in charge of cleaning the visitors' household refuse.

"I can only burn the refuse. I am afraid I cannot handle the rubbish as more travelers come here," he says.

There used to be families of tofu makers, shoemakers, millers, opera actors, masons, blacksmiths, doctors, carpenters, teachers, musicians, hairdressers and tailors in Dachang before the 1970s.

Han Shuangniu says after the last carpenter died one year ago, "we do not have professionals anymore. We have to learn to do the stuff ourselves."

Han Shuanyou, 65, is the only professional flockmaster. He's responsible for herding the 70 goats owned by the 16 villagers, including his, because he is the youngest.

"It is not an easy job," he complains, calling himself "the only public property manager". The wild dogs, eagles and the other predators attack the goats, which are much harder to herd than sheep.

According to the villagers, the unhappiest time of the village was during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).

"One of my uncles was killed on his way to a fair in the town. The other one survived by feigning death among corpses and came back at night," says Han Shuangniu.

"The county and town heads all fled the war to our village, which was a natural shelter because of its remoteness."

Yet for the old villagers, singing the guerrilla songs deploring the Japanese invasion remains good entertainment, along with the other local operas.

As for the great famine in the early 1960s and the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) that swept across China, the villagers joke that the events seemed so distant from them.

The county government organizes free medical checks every year for Dachang. But doctors have found most villagers to have a fairly clean bill of health.

"Most of the old guys passed away peacefully in their sleep and continue to 'sleep' on the mountains," Han Shuanyou says. "They work until the last day of their lives."

One-fourth of the deserted old houses in Dachang have collapsed. Han Shuangniu says emotionally: "After we all go to sleep in the mountains, Dachang will disappear."

If you go

Dachang is two hours by off-road vehicle from Yuxian county, 60 kilometers north of Yangquan city in eastern Shanxi province.

It's available to stay in the village for several days. The cost is low, the food is healthy and the air is fabulous,making it a convenient place for the dwellers of smoggy cities in North China to refresh their lungs.