A man lives alone in a hollowed-out village, with only sheep for company from dawn to dusk

Original title: One Man's Village

On April 19, Liu Shengjia feeds the sheep in the courtyard.

Xueshan She, Songbai Village, Jingyuan County, Gansu Province, is located in a high-altitude, damp and cold mountainous area, with harsh climate and poor soil, and there is no other village for several kilometers around. In 2006, the original more than 20 households of villagers moved away one after another, but Liu Shengjia chose to stay to care for his bedridden mother and younger brother. Later, his mother and younger brother died one after another, and from then on Liu Shengjia was the only person left in Xueshan She.

Drinking water has to be hauled up from down the mountain, and food ingredients require a trip of several kilometers down the mountain to buy. To survive, apart from the meager subsidy for returning farmland to forest and the income from selling two or three sheep each year, Liu Shengjia took a job as a temporary forest ranger at a forestry management and protection station not far from the She, and his monthly income of more than 700 yuan is the basic guarantee of his livelihood. "Relying on my own efforts and help from relatives, survival is not a problem, but I still want to move somewhere where there are people." And so, Liu Shengjia keeps waiting here...

On April 19, Liu Shengjia prepares to boil water in the house where he lives. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fan Peishen