Most are of the Miao ethnic minority.Twenty years ago, he became the first in Zhongdong to convert a portion of his home into a small guesthouse and now makes some 18,000 yuan (₹1.New visitors brought by the cable car will make it “easier to make money” but there are downsides, he concedes. The villagers’ only access to the outside world is a footpath winding through rugged mountain terrain in Guizhou province, China.Hundreds of millions of rural migrants have moved to urban areas since China began economic reforms in the late 1970s, hollowing out large swathes of the countryside..The cave once housed a vibrant school with more than two hundred students.He added: “When authorities decide to develop a scenic spot, only they get rich.There is no consensus as to when people first moved into the cave, but some families say they have lived there for generations.Scepticism remainsWhile some residents are excited by the economic prospects of more tourists, others are unconvinced that the new transport will improve their lives in one of China’s poorest regions.The funicular will make their daily lives easier and furnish new business opportunities, it says.China’s Zhongdong village comprises of 18 families with very limited access to the outside world.Where bandits livedThe cave was previously occupied by bandits.But their only access to the outside world is a footpath winding through Guizhou province’s rugged mountain terrain.The cable car isn’t convenient for the rural people of Zhongdong, said 22-year-old Wang Xingguo, since poultry and unwieldy cargo will not be allowed in cabins.There are concerns too that if they leave, and the area is formally incorporated into the nearby Getu River Park for ticket-paying visitors, they would be unable to return. (Photo: AFP) Beijing: High in the misty hills of southwestern China, an hour’s hike from any road, the lowing of livestock echoes through Zhongdong village, where a group of 18 families live inside an enormous natural cave.Zhongdong’s houses would be repaired, the primary school restored, and “the mess of dirty things inside” the cave cleared out, he said.Beneath the high ceiling, thatch-walled homes surround a central square, fashioned into a dirt-floored basketball court.6 crore) cable car that residents will be allowed to use for free.But it was shuttered by authorities some time ago, and now Wei’s 12-year-old son must walk two hours to class.Wang’s father, Wang Hongqing, said their family moved into the cave when he was just a baby, not long after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. It will go into operation on May 1. The tourism development company manager, surnamed Luo, said the project would revitalise the village, gutted by the rural-to-urban migration.Now a local tourism development company has built a 15 million yuan (₹14.Wang explained: “When they make this a tourist site, they’ll charge entrance fees, and I wouldn’t even be able to afford to get into the place that used to be my home. But when the People’s Liberation Army drove them out, Wang’s family seized the opportunity to make it their home. The village of Zhongdong, where a group of 18 families live inside an enormous natural cave.“They said they’d build us a road 15 years ago, but then they discovered this was a place they could make money off and so chose not to build it,” he said, ushering a herd of goats into a pen near the mouth of the nearly 200-metre deep cave.75 lakh) a year housing tourists.For almost a decade, the government asked villagers to move out, but Cables Wire Manufacturers Wang refused, afraid of losing such an important supplement to his income from growing corn and raising free-range chickens.”Bring back the youngWang’s neighbour, Wei Xiaohong, hopes the improvements will bring the young people back from the cities where they have gone to find jobs.Currently, villagers must haul in all food and products that they can’t make or grow themselves — even large items like furniture — from the nearest town, a three hour commute each way.“In five years, we will have reproduced some of the original buildings and recreated the primitive life of the men out farming and the women at home doing housework for the tourists to visit,” he added.”The name Zhongdong literally translates to “middle cave”, a reference to its position between two smaller but uninhabited caverns.The final hold-outs of the country’s “last cave-dwelling” village have had modern conveniences, like electricity, for years. But a hiker visiting the cave said he would not take the cable car once it was finished, saying it “damages this place and its original style”