This article is about artificial caves used as dwellings, especially those in north China called yaodongs, as opposed to natural caves. A dwelling is a structure in which humans or other animals live. ... Alternate meanings: Cave (disambiguation) The outside world viewed from a cave A cave is a natural underground void. ...

The yaodongs Zhou Enlai had lived in.

Yaodong is a dugout used as an abode or shelter in China. Yaodongs are common in north China, especially on the Loess Plateau. The history of yaodongs goes back to time immemorial, and continues today. Image File history File linksMetadata Yaodong_Yangjialing_Zhou_Enlai. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Yaodong_Yangjialing_Zhou_Enlai. ... Zhou Enlai (Simplified Chinese: 周恩来; Traditional Chinese: 周恩來; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chou En-lai) (March 5, 1898 – January 8, 1976), a prominent Chinese Communist leader, was Premier of the Peoples Republic of China from 1949 until his death. ... A dugout or dug-out is a shelter dug out of the ground. ... See also list of house types. ... Shelter can refer to several things: Look up shelter on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Loess Plateau covers an area of some 640,000 km² in the upper and middle parts of China’s Yellow River. ...

Yaodongs are usually carved out of a generally vertical side of a loess hill. If the side is not vertical, it must be cut vertical. The silty soil is soft and easy to dig. The cross section of a yaodong is similar to that of a cave: a rectangle in the lower part connected to a semi-circle in the upper part. The width at the floor is from 3 to 4 meters, and the highest point in the ceiling is around 3 meters or higher. The depth of a yaodong can be 5 meters or more. Windows and doors are installed at the opening of the yaodong. The inner side wall is usually plastered with lime to make it white. A platform called kang is built to be used as a bed. An fireplace is built beside the kang and the smoke and hot gas go through the built-in channels inside the kang to heat it before exiting to outdoor through a chimney. Among the classifications of soil types, loess (pronounced lös, from the German Löß, and ultimately from Swiss German lösch, loose) is a fine, silty, windblown (eolian) type of unconsolidated deposit, or, sometimes the term refers to the soil derived from it. ... A chimney is a system for venting hot gases and smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. ...

The hill, which is practically infinite in thickness, that separates the indoor space and outdoor serves as an effective insulator that keeps the inside of a yaodong warm in cold seasons and cool in hot seasons. Consequently, very little heating is required in winter, and in summer, it is as cool as an air-conditioned room.

More exquisite yaodongs may have a facade built with stones with fine patterns carved on the surface. The word facade (or façade) can mean one of several things. ...

Yaodongs can also be constructed with stones or bricks as stand-alone structures. Often, three or more yaodongs in a row are constructed. First, stones or bricks are used to build the arch-shaped structure, and then soil is used to fill up the external space above the arches to make a thick and flat roof.

The most famous yaodongs in China are perhaps those in Yan'an. The communists led by Mao Zedong headquartered there in 1935-1948 and lived in yaodongs, although Mao himself did not reside in one. Edgar Snow visited Mao and his party in Yan'an and wrote Red Star Over China. Yanan (Chinese: 延安; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Yen-an), is a city in Shaanxi province, China. ... This article is about communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, and as a popular movement. ... ▶(?) (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976; Mao Tse-tung in Wade-Giles) was the chairman of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China from 1943 and the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from 1945 until his death. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Edgar Snow (b. ... Mao could refer to: Mao Zedong, (Mao Tse-Tung in Wade-Giles) leader of the Communist Party of China from 1935 to 1976. ... Yanan (Chinese: 延安; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Yen-an), is a city in Shaanxi province, China. ... Mao Zedong in 1931. ...