Yaodong

A yaodong (窰 [iɤ] in native Jin Chinese,[1] or 窰洞 [jɑʊ tʊŋ] yáodòng in Beijing Mandarin) is a particular form of earth shelter dwelling common in the Loess Plateau in China's north.

People dig caves in the cliff on the edge of the loess slopes with the floor rectangular and the top arched.

In the traditional residential areas in western Henan, the Hoop Yaodongs appear in the places where there are no conditions for excavations of cave dwellings, e.g. the loess layer is thin, the slopes are gentle, the height of the soil cliffs is insufficient, or the bedrock is exposed.

A hoop yaodong is usually built wholly or partially outdoors, with an arched structure inspired by the underground dwellings.

The first yaodongs were underground dwellings that date back to the 2nd millennium BC, China's Bronze Age, and according to Chinese tradition, the Xia dynasty.

[12] The yaodong homes are common on the Loess Plateau of China in the North, and are found mainly in five provinces: Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and the Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia.

[13] The death toll of approximately 810,000 from the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake is claimed to be in part because it was centered on the Loess Plateau, where many yaodongs collapsed.

[17] According to eyewitnesses, yaodongs withstood the 1976 Tangshan earthquake better than conventional homes, attributed to the soft soil of the region.