An ancient thoroughfare sleeps below the soil

A once-famous road lies buried under grasslands, forgotten by the people of the areas it used to serve

When Xing Shangzhi, a farmer in his late 40s, herds his sheep and tends his potato plots along a hillside in Dazhaizi village, Fuxian, Shaanxi province, he often comes across rubble consisting of bricks and tiles that date back centuries. That fact is obvious from their shape and pattern, both of which are unusual today.

Like many local people, Xing and his wife live in a dwelling dug out of the hillside below the Ziwu Range. The ridge of the range, which runs from south to north in the western part of Shaanxi over a distance of about 413 kilometers, is unusually solid, making it ideal for the excavation of cave dwellings.