These days around one-twelfth of Shanxi-ers live in caves - still a remarkable number - and for many of them, life is almost as it was for their ancestors.

On the morning I arrived, I met the manager of a golf resort who told me that six coal mine owners from Shanxi had each rented luxury hotel suites for a month - and paid their bills with bags of cash.

The couple met in the countryside in their home province of Shanxi but soon decided to move to Taiyuan, the provincial capital.

He had a very strong regional Shanxi accent and our young guide, who was also the interpreter, had difficulty understanding him.

He is the only star in Shanxi Zhongyu, in a sense, and all the other players could follow him, and the issue could be resolved.