Cave dwelling might sound ancient, but on China's Loess Plateau, there are more than 100 villages where people still live in underground caves. Thousands of tourists are flocking to see these subterranean abodes during the Spring Festival. Xu Mengqi reports.

Five days into the Chinese New Year, the sound of drums and the sight of dancers highlight the festive mood. But there is something else that people here in China's loess plateau are celebrating. A village built almost entirely under the ground.

BAI LIANGXU FOLKLORE EXPERT "The making of the underground village benefits from the unique topography of the loess plateau. It's surrounded by gullies created by the action of water across time, and it's on the small tablelands that the underground villages are built.”

The tradition here of building down instead of up dates back more than 4-thousand years. Using silt mixed with straw as the building material, the caves are warm in winter and cool in the summer. These days, the tradition's longevity is being tested. 62-year-old Su Nanni and her family used to share the courtyard with two other households. Now the only ones left are her, her husband and a parent.

NAN SUNI, FARMER QU VILLAGE, SANMENXIA "Only the elderly still live down here. Now the young people have all moved out and no longer live in the courtyard."

The local government has renovated one of the villages here to both protect the cultural heritage and attract tourists. What once was a home is now a library that shows how these cave dwellings are built. And for tourists, there are other experiences.

ZHANG HUAN TOURIST "Underground dwellings are a childhood memory for me. I didn't expect it to be developed into a tourist spot that would bring so many people here. It's quite nice to experience the folk culture."

XU MENGQI SANMENXIA, HENAN PROVINCE "Donkey dance is also part of the festive celebrations. According to New Year traditions, women who are married are to visit their parents on the second day of the lunar New Year. For Chinese farmers, donkeys used to be a major means of transport."

With the joyful music a parade of performers marches on to entertain a curious crowd. But for some, the best is reserved for the evening.

As drums and dances give way to lights and lanterns to herald the year of the dog, the village below the horizon now breathes new life. Xu Mengqi, CGTN, Sanmenxia, Henan province.