Photo provided to China Daily

The traditional lifestyle has its roots in the area's unique natural environment.

"The slopes are so steep that you must slash and burn to reclaim the land for farming," he says. "Even that wasn't enough for us to make ends meet. If it was raining like this month (May), we couldn't keep the fire burning in the woods. Then we didn't have enough to eat. So we went hunting."

Now the animals are abundant in the forests, Yang says. Last year six oxen of the village, which usually graze free on the village's summer pasture, were killed by black bears or leopards. "The country's compensation standard is 3,000 yuan for an ox," he says. "But an ox is priced at about 8,000 yuan."

The compensation is something that the government will work to improve in the future, he says.

Jiang Liang, another official of the village who lives at Qinlangdang and runs the hamlet's only guesthouse, has several complaints.

The new house, though spacious and bright, leaves no space for a fireplace. "Without a fireplace, how can we dry our clothes in the wet season?" he says, sitting around a fireplace in his home's kitchen.