China, Fujian Province, Yongding County
21 days
Had plans to visit it, until UNESCO decided to proclaim as one of the world heritage sites in 7 July 2008. Better visit it by this year, else this place will become UNESCO-fied, the common curse that oftens follows after places become 'world heritaged'. Most become way too touristy and turned into a big museum site with the common mass tourism curse, most will have its old life sucked into oblivion.
History
Fujian Tulou is a property of 46 houses built between the 12th and 20th centuries over 120 km in south-west of Fujian province, inland from the Taiwan Strait. Set amongst rice, tea and tobacco fields the tulou are earthen houses. Several storeys high, they are built along an inward-looking, circular or square floor plan as housing for up to 800 people each. They were built for defence purposes around a central open courtyard with few windows to the outside and only one entrance. Housing a whole clan, the houses functioned as village units and were known as “a little kingdom for the family” or “bustling small city.” They feature tall fortified mud walls capped by tiled roofs with wide over-hanging eaves. The most elaborate structures date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. The buildings were divided vertically between families with each disposing of two or three rooms on each floor.
Different Tulou Villages
Chuxi Tulou cluster - * interested to visit
located as Yongding county Xiayang township Chuxi village. Inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage site 1113-001.
- Jiqinglou, the largest rotunda tulou also the oldest in this cluster, built in 1419 during the reign of Emperor Yongle Ming dynasty. It consists two concentric rings, the out ring building is 4 storey tall, with 53 rooms on each level. The outer ring has 72 staircases. The second ring is one storey building.
Zhengcheng lou -
Zhenchenglou 振成楼, nicknamed "the prince of tulou", belongs to Hongkeng Tulou cluster covers an area of 5000 square meters. It is located in Hongkeng village, Hukeng township of Yingding county. Hongkeng Village, Hukeng Town, Yongding County, Longyan City.
Inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage 1113-002 It was built in 1912 by the descendents of a rich tobacco merchant. Zhenchenglou is a double ring tulou, its outer ring is 4 storey high, total 184 rooms, the inner ring is 2 storey with 32 rooms. The outer ring was partitioned into four segments according to Bagua concept of Chinese Fengshui.
Western influence is evident in the Greek style columns of the ancestral hall, and in the wrought iron railing of the second level corridor.
Chengqi lou - Most Touristy, day trip tourists
King of Tulou- Chengqilou /4 concentric ring architecture of Chengqi lou
Chengqilou 承启楼 nicknamed "the king of tulou", of Gaobei Tulou cluster at Gaotou village was built in 1709. Gaobei Village, Gaotou Town, Yongding County, Longyan City. Inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site 1113-003 in 2008. It is massive rotunda tulou with four concentric rings surrounding an ancestral hall at the center, the outer ring is 62.6 meter in diameter and 4 storey tall 288 rooms, with 72 rooms on each level, circular corridor on 2nd to 4th floor, with 4 sets of staircases at cardinal points connecting ground to top floors. A big roof extending out ward covers the main ring. The ground floor rooms are kitchens for family branches, the second level rooms are grain storage rooms, and the 3rd and 4th floor rooms are living quarters and bedrooms. The second ring of 80 rooms is 2 storey high, with 40 rooms on each level, the third ring served as community library, one storey with 32 rooms; there are 370 rooms in all. The 4th ring is a circular covered corridor surrounding the ancestral hall. If a person stay only one night in each room, it would take more than a year to go through all the rooms. The ancestral hall is at the center. Chengqilou has two main gates and two side gates. 15th generation Jiang clan with 57 families and 300 people live here. At its heydays, there were more than 80 family branches lived in Chengqilou.
Other buildings in this cluster include: a three ring Shenyuanlou, outer ring 70m diameter; a Wujiaolou (pentagon) with irregular pentagonal floor plan and a rectangular tulou, the Shi-Ze lou
Tianluokeng Tulou cluster - * interested to visit
Tianluokeng Tulou cluster is tulou quintet cluster located at Fujian province, Zhanzhou City, Nanjing County, Shuyang Township, Tian Luo Keng Village (literally "Snail Pit" Village) in southern China, about four hours drive by motor coach or taxi from Xiamen, through winding and bumpy narrow mountain roads. It consists of five tulous with a square "Buyunlou" at the center, surrounded by three rotunda tulous and an oval tulou, forming a pattern of "four dishes and a soup".The five earth buildings at the Snail Pit village are:
- The square Buyunlou (Reaching the Cloud building) at the center of the quincunx. It was the first tulou at this site, built in 1796. It is three storeys high, each storey has 26 rooms, four sets of stairs, and a go around corridor in front of the rooms at each level. The Buyun building was burnt down by bandits in 1936, rebuilt in1953 according to the original plan.
- The Hechang building, a three storeys high round earth building,
- Zhenchang building, three storeys, round shape, 26 rooms per storey, built in 1930
- Ruiyun building, built in 1936,3 storey, 26 rooms per floor.
- The oval shape Wenchang building of 1966, 3 storey, 32 rooms per floor.
Yuchang lou
Yuchanglou 裕昌楼 is a 5 storeys tulou located at Nangjing county Shuyang district Xiabanliao village. It was built in 1308 Yuan dynasty by Liu family clan. It is one of the oldest and tallest tulou in China. Yuchanglou has a nickname:"zigzag building", because the vertical wooden post structure is not straight and perpendicular, but zigzag left and right. It was built that way due to error on measurement of material length. But inspite of apparent infirmity, this tall tulou stood 700 hundred years of natural elements and social turmoil. Yuchanglou's outer ring is 36 m in diameter, five storeys with 50 rooms on each floor. The 25 kitchens on the ground floor at the back half of the circle have private water well for each beside a stove. This is the only tulou in all Fujian with such convenient water supply.
There was a one storey inner ring house surrounding the ancestral hall as late as 2003.Unfortunately this part of the building stood nearly 700 hundred years intact was dismantled after 2003
Eryilou - *interested to visit
Eryilou 二宜楼 of Dadi Tulou cluster is located at Zhanghou City Hua-an County Xiandu township Dadi Village. Dadi Village, Xiandu Town, Hua’an County, Zhanzhou City, Eryi Building covers an area of over 6,000 square meters and is 16 meters high with a diameter of 73.4 meters.
Built in 1770 it consists of a 4 storey outer ring and a one storey inner ring. The outer ring is 71 meter in diameter, with 48 rooms on each level. Eryilou has no circular corridor at the front of each upper level, instead it has a back corridor adjacent to the wall. The outer ring rooms are partitioned vertically into separate households, each household partition has its own set of staircases not share by other families; some partition has a frontal width of 3 rooms, others has width of 4 rooms. The partition of the inner ring is attached to the partition of the main ring via covered verandah as antechamber.
There are altogether 192 rooms in addition to the doors, halls and staircases, with 952 color paintings of murals in total. Famous both near and far for its long history, grand scale, scientific design, being kept in good condition as well as its exquisite color paintings of murals and rich culture, Eryi Building is reputed as "No.1 Round Building in China" and "National Treasure".
Yijing Building
-the largest square earth building
Built in 1851, Yijing Building is a square earth building situated at Shangyang Village, Gaopo Town, Yongding County, Longyan City. The outside wall is 136 meters wide from east to west, and 76 meters long from north to south, with an area of 10,336 square meters. The 5-storey main tower at the back of the Building is 17 meters high, and is the highest among the existing earth buildings in Yongding. With altogether 280 rooms, Yijing Building is the largest square earth buildings ever known.
-the tallest earth building on marsh areas
Links
http://ihavetravellust.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/plans-2008-china-fujian-hakka-tulou-general/
http://ihavetravellust.wordpress.com
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