A legend comes true

Huang Dafa is hailed as a living personification of the myth of Yu Gong, 'the old man who moves mountains'. Erik Nilsson explores his world in Zunyi, Guizhou.

The villagers he led only had hand tools - and explosives. He's the stuff of legend - but real. Huang Dafa is arguably an actual, modern incarnation of the ancient myth of Yu Gong.

The saying yu gong yi shan - or "the old man moves mountains" - is a parable of persistence that seems foolhardy in the face of unimaginable odds.