Wang Jinggui and her two sons, Liu Yanling (right) and Liu Yanqi (left), stand in front of a cypress tree next to their house on a mountain in Cuijiayu village of Rizhao, East China’s Shandong province, on Dec 16, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Wang Jinggui and her two sons, Liu Yanling and Liu Yanqi, are the only residents on a mountain north to Cuijiayu village in Rizhao, Shandong province. The family has been living there for seven generations.

Life on the remote mountain is tough. The family does not have access to electricity. They have to use firewood to cook and diesel oil lamps for light.

Liu Yanling, 59, is the oldest child. He went down the mountain at the age of 16 and spent 20 years earning a living, but returned at 47 because of cerebral thrombosis. He picked herbs on the mountain and cooked his own herbal soup to treat himself. A year later, the disease healed.

Liu Yanling stayed on the mountain to take care of his mother since then.

The second oldest child Liu Yanqi is 58 years old. His wife died several years ago. Now he lives with his mother and brother and earns a living by raising cattle.

The family now lives a secluded and quiet life on the mountain. The most expensive thing in the house is a motorcycle.