Man spends 30 years living and painting in cave

A 67-year-old man who has spent most of his time in the past three decades living and painting inside a cave has inspired readers online.

Song Chuanzhong's cave home is located 1 kilometer away from Goupitanji town in Yuqing county, Guizhou province. The dwelling is about 60 square meters in size, and is filled with columns, stalagmites and stalactites of all shapes. The man's only furniture is a bed, a tea table and a larger table on which he paints.

Song is so dedicated to painting that he is called a painting crackpot by villagers nearby. He has been living a contented minimalistic life in the cave for nearly 30 years. He says the secluded and quiet life in nature has provided him with lots of inspirations for his artistic creations.

His biggest wish is to finish a giant painting. A museum has shown interest in collecting the 400 meters long painting, which Song named "Ode to the Motherland".