Cave school closed

A Chinese school in a cave has been closed down.

Beijing education officials closed The Getu Village Cave Primary School in Guizhou province, claiming it made the country look "like a nation of cavemen."

Locals opened the 186-pupil school in the aircraft hangar-sized cave after authorities refused to build one for the remote community.

Former headmaster Xi Lin Chun said: "It is a shame. Even in the playground we didn't have to worry about the weather as it was always dry."

"The acoustics were great. We had the best choir in the area and there were also several rock strata visible on the walls which made teaching geology far more interesting.

"And we didn't need books for biology - we had bats and lizards in there all day."