Ancient Round Earthen Houses or Tulou, Xiamen

The HongKeng Tulou in Xiamen is a world heritage site which still has many ancient tulou dating from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The tulou, built by the Hakka(an ethnic group) people are usually round, four stories high and were built that way to protect its occupants from attacks by bandits and wild animals.

Some are square and there is a huge one that is octagonal.

The ground floor has no windows, only a small open square to allow smoke to escape as that was the kitchen.

The living quarters are on the first, second and third floors and there is a balcony running round the tulou. Only the second and third floors have windows. Each family will have a unit of kitchen and upper living quarters, going vertically upwards.

The central courtyard had many uses.

Below is an oblong shaped tulou or the Phoenix tulou. The tiles are more elaborate.

These tulou are scattered over a large area in a rural village and we had to walk about five kilometers to visit three of them. This gave us an insight into how people in those days of long ago lived.

Besides the tulou there are other old houses in the area and many of the inhabitants grow persimmons and vegetables. Some women sort tea leaves while others roll tobacco in pieces of paper to make cigarettes. It is a very picturesque village with a small stream and water wheel.