Jinwan Central Village in Zhuhai’s Sanzao County, like many small towns and villages in China, is almost entirely populated by the elderly and their grandchildren.  Once people reach working age, they head off to the big cities to earn money.

The village has become famous on the Internet after it emerged that its inhabitants have gone seven years without mains electricity, according to Southern Metropolis Daily.

Villagers use oil lamps to heat their tea and one villager bought a hard hat with a light attached to it to help see in the dark.

In the evenings, most children choose to drag a table under a streetlight so they can see while doing their homework because trying to use an oil lamp is too frustrating.  In summer, villagers are often woken up by the heat so have to go out for a jog until they are simply too exhausted to stay awake.

For these reasons, the population of the village is thought to have fallen below 70 as residents move away. The government official responsible for the area has sought help from higher level officials and is awaiting a response, according to the paper.

The village’s inhabitants are financially dependent on family members who have gone to big cities, so considering the RMB200-300 they have to pay in rent every month, there is no guarantee they would be able to afford electricity even if they had it.

In the early days of China’s reform and opening up in the 1980s, Zhuhai was one of the first places to embrace the new culture of independence and entrepreneurship. Many migrants came to the city to escape village life, so the villages around Zhuhai are among the most neglected in the province.

A family relies on an oil lamp to see at night

Using an oil lamp to do homework can be so frustrating that kids often go outside and use streetlights to aid them.

One villager has bought a hard hat with a lamp, similar to what miners use, to help his family see in the dark