A man walks down from his village located deep in the mountain to buy fuel from the town. For villagers, it is hard to go to the towns, especially if they are disabled, since they have to climb up and down the slopes to get there and back. Many leprosy villages in China are isolated from the rest of the population. The places are similar to poor farming villages in rural China where the people have been left behind despite China’s economic growth. Duan, China. July 8, 2007. Vanishing Existence - Abandoned Leprosy Villages in China ©Kosuke Okahara. Japan