Fujian Tulou (Tianluokeng and Yongding)
UNESCO World Heritage Site (Fujian Tulou, 2008); National 5A Tourist Attraction · Zhangzhou, Fujian
Giant round and square earthen fortress-houses in the hills of southwestern Fujian, built by Hakka and Minnan clans from the 12th to the 20th centuries. Each tulou is a whole village in one building: rammed-earth outer walls up to two metres thick, a single gate, and three to five storeys of rooms facing inward onto a courtyard with an ancestral hall at the centre, once home to hundreds of relatives. Forty-six of them are a UNESCO World Heritage site. At Tianluokeng a square tulou sits ringed by three round ones and an oval one, the view locals call four dishes and a soup. In Yongding, the Hongkeng cluster holds the ornate Zhencheng Lou, the Prince of Tulou, while Gaobei has Chengqi Lou, the four-ringed King of Tulou from 1709. Many are still lived in, and some offer simple rooms to stay the night.
Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster, Shuyang Town, Nanjing County, Zhangzhou, Fujian, China
Tianluokeng roughly 8:00-17:00; Hongkeng roughly 6:00-21:00 April-October and 6:00-20:30 November-March; Chuxi roughly 8:00-17:30. Each cluster keeps its own hours.
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