Luyuanping, Hubei, China: The world's first elevator village

The massive sinkhole village before us is Luyanping in Enshi Hubei —a mysterious village that still has no road access to this day The entire village lies hidden at the bottom of a sinkhole 1 200 meters above sea level with a vertical drop of a full 600 meters from the bottom to the rim All around were lush vibrant cliff faces as if secretly hidden by nature itself in the past villagers had to climb rocks and trek along mountain paths to enter or leave the village—exhausting and perilous It wasn't until 2016 that the scenic area was developed when over 1 800 steps were built along with the world's longest inclined elevator which takes just three or four minutes to ride The mountain path that once took two hours to traverse can now be reached in minutes this village with a history spanning over 300 years was established during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties by two brothers from Changde Hunan who fled the turmoil of war Migrated to Enshi in Hubei Province They initially settled in a place called Xintian but found the area too high in elevation and too cold in climate the grains they brought only bloomed but never produced harvest making it impossible to grow food at all Everyone had no choice but to keep searching for a new place to settle It is said that while the brothers were searching the mountains together they saw a white deer and followed it all the way here It was once called Lu Ying Ping later renamed Lu Yan Ping as it is known today They discovered the valley floor was flat the soil fertile and the climate mild—ideal for farming and long-term settlement He decided to settle here permanently and so he stayed for over three centuries Today the villagers still live according to the time-honored ways of their ancestors rising with the sun and resting when it sets Self-sufficient and unbothered by the world The scenery at Lu Ying Ping remains just as it was before Tranquil repair mountains and rivers glistening green misty shadows swirling around The entire village seemed like a forgotten paradise untouched by time Hello everyone I'm Xiaoxue Today we've arrived at Luyingping in Enshi Hubei This village is probably the largest sinkhole village I've seen so far The village lies within a sinkhole at an elevation of 1 200 meters with a vertical drop of 600 meters from the bottom to the rim surrounded on all sides by sheer cliffs These steep cliffs act like a natural barrier isolating the village from the outside world Due to the area's unique terrain this village has remained without a road to this day Now we're heading to Lu Yingping to explore this secluded century-old village Right now we're walking on a cliffside trail Let me show you what's below Wow my goodness It's incredibly high And this trail itself is Beneath it it's suspended in midair Look over there—there's an elevator This elevator is the longest inclined elevator in the world Its total length is 380 meters and its vertical height exceeds 300 meters a single ride takes only three to four minutes With this elevator in place visitors can now shuttle back and forth through the mountain valley at the bottom We had originally planned to take this elevator down but today we happened to arrive at an inconvenient time—just as the moss on that side exploded—and now we can't use the elevator Here there are two routes: one is by elevator and the other is this hiking trail we're on—some people prefer walking so let's calculate the time It would take how long to reach the bottom of the valley from here Let's check the phone setup Oops My phone is completely dead Good thing we both have the habit of carrying power banks let's charge the phone Alright now let's get going This path feels increasingly treacherous—let me give you a firsthand sense of it I can feel my legs trembling just walking on it From this angle the elevator looks truly impressive I heard it was extremely difficult to build back then The terrain here is steep and treacherous with no flat ground anywhere Thousands of tons of steel had to be carried in by hand and transported through cargo passageways—can you guess how much this elevator cost Rumor has it cost 73 million yuan Everyone look — from here you can clearly see the waterfall it truly feels like a cascade plunging straight down thousands of feet as if the Milky Way has fallen from the heavens Waterfalls are everywhere in this village as the area is exceptionally rich in water resources Look at this cliff jade—it 's constantly oozing water Wow everyone check this out —this is just too beautiful At the center of the village runs a crystal- clear river visible to the bottom the houses are all built into the mountainside surrounded on all sides by rolling towering peaks I feel as beautiful as a painting Isn't everyone incredibly curious about why there's this road underneath Actually it's a tourist trail—just like the one we visited in Gulu Village earlier it's an internal pathway Wow look at these sheer cliffs here—they look like they've been carved by swords and axes so majestic and breathtaking I had just been disappointed about not getting a ride on the elevator but as we actually stepped onto this cliffside trail seeing such breathtaking scenery around us made all the difference And it doesn't feel quite so regretful anymore Just like life itself no matter which path you choose there will always be regrets If we had taken the elevator just now You'd miss this breathtaking view atop the sheer cliff By now we've reached the end of this stretch of cliffside path and now we still have to descend from here Going down from here means another 1 800 steps on the staircase Coming this far these paths are still fairly easy to walk I don't even realize it but I'm already nearing the bottom of the valley Although this path looks easier to walk it's still quite tiring Now we've finally reached the bottom of the valley The valley floor is relatively flat Let's check the time I figured it took about an hour or so—really quite tiring Over here there's a pavilion let's take a break first We've rested long enough Let's continue forward There's a sightseeing vehicle here Could we please ask where this sightseeing bus is going Hello sister Where is this sightseeing bus going There's space beyond the waterfall Can we sit here now Then let's drive over It's still a good distance if we go this way Now we're boarding the sightseeing vehicle to head to the canyon crack—this fissure is the biggest highlight here Now we're getting off the vehicle to head toward the canyon crack There's also a dog here This dog really likes people Let's go downstairs first This sister—she's connected to Lu Yuanping She runs a restaurant here Were you born right here in Lu Yuanping since childhood Yes yes indeed I was born and raised right here And what might your surname be Pèi Just Pèi Oh that Pèi I've heard your village was already established during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties That's right Now after more than three hundred years How many generations have passed since your ancestors came down from above About three hundred and some years over three hundred several hundred years—probably around a dozen generations or so We came from over there—didn't the elevator break down So we took the other trail down instead Were you here before Yeah were too Before we developed that area there was a small path leading out for hiking and that's how I used to go to school when I was a child—back when I was in elementary school we'd go out that way to get to class Hmm there's no work here and we don't have a school We leave our homes before sunrise every morning and hike to school It takes about two hours to get there And it takes another two hours to return home after school ends in the afternoon That's how I used to run to school every day back when I was in elementary school—round trips taking four or five hours roughly four hours each way Then when I started middle school— We go to school once a week and it takes about five hours each way We just carry a backpack and head back home afterward Copying while stepping copying while reversing—like that until reaching school—oh that was back when I was little in elementary school he’d just go out in the morning then have lunch at school but no not lunch no lunch at noon Just bring some sweet potatoes and potatoes home for lunch Oh I see There's nothing to eat at school either Why did your ancestors come to this place back then I don't know maybe they were fleeing hardship Our ancestors fled here several hundred years ago Oh our ancestors fled here during a migration —originally from Hunan specifically Changde in Hunan—people who escaped hardship and settled right here so that's where our ancestors came from So we've just kept living in this village all along never leaving Back then we had about a hundred households here but now only thirty remain When tourism development took place here we had no real source of income just elderly people remaining growing crops and raising a few pigs and chickens Being able to support oneself without any income is impossible so all the young people went out to work leaving only the elderly behind Now because the tourist attraction has been developed we young people have come back No need to work outside anymore—now it's possible That's a good opportunity Sure you could grow some vegetables raise a few pigs and chickens and then start a small business I notice there are many houses here made of stones stacked together When was that built This stone house we're talking about It was probably when I was just a child maybe only a few years old These have been here for about decades now with small stones collected one by one from the riverbed built without cement or steel because there's no road to bring them in Can't transport materials Then use what's on site—exactly right just gather stones from right there Accumulate them one by one and that's how it was built Oh I see Yes If you wanted to buy salt or fertilizer before how would you get it in You'd still have to carry it in from the mountain—impossible to carry in The trail you're walking on today didn't exist before—there were no walkways and no elevators just this narrow winding path winding its way up We buy salt and oil—everything comes in from that mountain—carried up by hand and it takes about an hour or two to climb up there especially if you're dealing with little kids Do you have to carry it out on your back too That's right that's how it's always been Because there's no other means of transportation You just have to carry it in on your back Now though your transportation has become relatively developed Are you walking out or taking the elevator now We have two options—either take the elevator or use the walkway you came down today Those are the only two choices Our cars are all parked up on the mountain up on the mountain you know see the parking lot next to that visitor center right Just leave your car there then we'll walk in from there We go out to run errands by hiking up and then driving to the street to shop bring all this stuff back leave the car there and then walk back in—like that Oh I see How long does it take you locals to walk this path If we go we’d be just a bit faster than you About an hour roughly Oh and going uphill again would be even quicker actually Going up is more strenuous but coming down is faster—about 40 to 50 minutes down Oh I see Going up is just a bit slower What crops did our ancestors grow here before Corn potatoes and all kinds of vegetables—just enough to sustain themselves living off the land self-sufficient Because growing corn to raise pigs and chickens so if those grains and livestock would they be sold They couldn't be sold before If you're going to sell it you'll have to carry it out yourself— can't sell it anywhere else and probably wouldn't bother trying since it's too much effort to carry out It takes nearly an hour to carry it out to the mountains before it can be sold—oh so there aren’t many sales—so people just produce it themselves for home use That’s right so the worst thing here is the poor transportation Everything's great—air scenery food water—this place whether in the past or today is truly a paradise untouched by the outside world Exactly Older generations came here because they found the land suitable for farming there's a story about a woman named Lu Yuanping dating back three hundred years This is a place where no one was around— just people fleeing from Hunan escaping here and then suddenly seeing footprints on a path—people thought " Oh Escape has a path " If the path can be walked they might have come this way too following the footprints along the trail step by step they arrived right here and felt safe the moment they reached this place And being able to grow their own food sustain themselves they've lived here for many years like this so they named him Lu Yuanping —used to be called Lu Yuanping back then Just call him Lu Yuanping—that is following the trail of footsteps to lead him in I recall earlier saying Lu Yinping meaning precisely to guide him in by following this path Later on it's revealed that Lu Yuanping is the one behind it so that's his background—sounds pretty interesting Do you think this place is safe Is that house over there Take a look at this— it's that stone house That stone house is yours Yes yes that's my house What about these tiles The tiles were newly installed this year This year we rebuilt the roof The previous tiles we had They all use that same material to build themselves—themselves being the ones who actually constructed them right there on the spot—either thatched roofs made from straw simply piled up and covered over with grass forming a thatched hut Then this one is from this year and right now there's this one that is Although there's no road there's now the transport cableway— essentially a system that slides supplies in where goods are simply lowered down via the cableway So this place is only gradually being built this year and now when you transport goods you're using that cableway system—pretty convenient now isn't it Otherwise you'd still have to carry things on your back But with our cable car system for example if you have a thousand catties you can just glide down—transportation fee is just three hundred yuan for a thousand catties if you don't have a full thousand catties then Only one hundred and one jin— well that's a good deal Still it'll have to be carried by hand though it's slightly better than before For instance if you've got heavy items—say a thousand or two thousand jin even three or five thousand jin— You can just slide down using that plastic tube—like fertilizer for farming for example—now there's no need to carry it by hand just slide it down via the conveyor cable That's the idea So you probably don't have to do farm work anymore now We don’t need to grow crops But we still grow crops The vegetables we grow Because we can buy vegetables outside When it's hard for others to go out We grow a huge amount of vegetables And we also grow cor Corn farmers don't eat corn themselves so they just focus on raising pigs and chickens You still raise pigs these days Yes yes we raise pigs and chickens because then we don't have to buy them from outside I think it's inconvenient if it's inconvenient and guests arrive then you still have to go out to buy things plus there's the backrest it just doesn't make sense anymore—so you'd have to raise more chickens yourself and when guests come you can just go straight to catching one Now— Raising pigs and chickens is fine sure absolutely the chickens here don’t eat feed at all because the feed has to be carried up from the mountain so there’s no point in using it yes This is where the corn is grown just feed it generously with this kind of natural forage— fresh grass corn everything—nothing but pure natural feed absolutely no artificial supplements Besides the Pei surname you mentioned are there any other surnames here We have four surnames in total: Zhu Zhou Pei and Li—just these four It started with the Pei Hsing family moving in then gradually other families with different surnames followed Yes now there are still only four surnames We were the original family with the surname Pei There are still about thirty households Now it's roughly thirty-seven or thirty-eight households Around a hundred people About a hundred people Thirty-seven or thirty-eight households about a hundred people Young people are still here Young people who don't engage in this kind of business basically all go out to work as laborers back then there were over a hundred households more than a hundred households—how many people is that It was enormous hundreds of people hundreds of people —there were hundreds of people before Sure thank you so much Hurry up and eat before it gets cold We ordered a few dishes at our sister's place This is wild bamboo shoots stir-fried with cured pork And this cured pork is also from pigs you raised yourselves isn't it Wow that's the real wild kind—this qualifies as organic Wow it's incredibly fragrant Have a bite to eat Alright that's enough— have a bowl but don't eat too much or you'll find it hard to get moving later Just heard the boss say this is their home My goodness look it's truly a picture of a small bridge flowing water and homes nestled by the stream It's truly breathtaking Let me show you all their house This house of theirs has a truly vintage feel and all the materials were sourced locally—entirely built by stacking these stones one by one as the owner just mentioned These stones were all collected from the river Here is a chicken coop where they raise some free-range chickens as well as free-range geese and free-range ducks I was planning to go inside the fissure to take a look but just now the owner told me that going to see the fissure would mean taking a detour They say there are still several waterfalls up on the ridge we're planning to go check them out first We'll see the waterfall above first then head to the fissure below as that way we won't have to backtrack Wow my goodness How beautiful They say there are four waterfalls here in total This is the first one we've seen Look up at the mountain peak Don't those two pointed shapes look like a deer's hooves This is the second waterfall here—truly each one is more breathtaking than the last Due to time constraints today we won't be continuing forward instead we'll use aerial footage to show you the next two sections This waterfall is truly more impressive than the last You can see the waterfall at the very top —it flows out from inside the cave opening We've now entered the fissure Take a look My goodness It's truly magnificent—so breathtaking I can't help but recite a poem: A cascade plunges three thousand feet a single thread of cloud falling from the heavens I believe such beauty defies expression in words This pool is called Deer Shadow Pond It is said that a divine deer once soared through the clouds instructing me to come here to drink After drinking it floated away again on a rainbow-colored cloud I've been staying here for a long time today It's really photogenic to take pictures and check in at this spot We've already been here for quite a while Let's head out from here now This is a typical karst landscape Look around—right now we're deep within a narrow canyon fissure surrounded on all sides by sheer cliffs Today I finally managed to explore Lu Yuanping completely This village is really huge absolutely huge It has not only deep ravines but also waterfalls and ancient village Look here This village here Surrounded by towering mountains on all sides it feels like a secluded paradise untouched by the outside world—overall it 's highly recommended That's all for today See you next time Bye