In a remote village in China, a man by the name of Liu Shengjia has been living all alone for ten years for only sheep for company, CCTVNews reported.
Following the scarcity of resources in Xuenshanshe village, most members of the 20 other families slowly started relocating to the cities, the remaining passed away by 2006, including Liu’s mother and brother.
Left alone in a ghost village, Liu started breeding sheep to keep himself occupied and started adjusting to his solo lifestyle.
Chinese newspaper, People’s Daily quoted him as saying:
In the beginning, I wasn’t able to sleep at night while listening to the howling of the wild dogs. But after I started to tend a few sheep and they’ve become my companions, I slowly got used to living alone.
According to The Independent, he also works for the local forestry protection which earns him around 700 yuan or £74 per month. However, the scarcity of daily supplies have proven to be difficult for Liu, who has to walk long distances for basic necessities.
Liu said that although there’s the advantage of being able to relocate anywhere, in the future, he’d prefer to live in a more populous area.
Many villages in China have seen mass exodus for the lack of jobs and resources.
As a push for urbanisation, the Chinese government had previously said that by 2030, it hopes for some 250 million people to move out of the villages into cities.