Self-taught villager clears 10,000 mines from Yunnan frontier

A man who perhaps has no business messing with explosives has done just that in southwestern Yunnan, for more than two decades. Wang Kaixue (王开学) is a self-taught landmine sweeper who has identified, dug up and defused thousands of mines. His “hobby”, as he calls it, has never led to any serious injuries or mishaps.

Wang educated himself on the finer aspects of mine clearance “in the 1990s”. His efforts center around his tiny hometown, Balihe Village (八里河村) in southeast Yunnan’s Wenshan Prefecture. The rural settlement sits 20 kilometers away from the Vietnamese border in an area of Malipo County (麻栗坡县) known for its steep Karst mountains and often dense tropical forests.