China's ancient homes - Tianluokeng Tulou cluster

Tianluokeng Tulou cluster (田螺坑土楼群) 

The term "tulou" first appeared in a Zhangzhou(漳州) county record dating from 1573, at the time of the Ming Dynasty.

Tianluokeng Tulou in Nanjing County, 160km west of Xiamen City. It takes about two and half hours’ drive from Xiamen along the bumpy and zigzag narrow mountain road. 

Starting in the 4th century, for more than 1000 years the Han Chinese living in the Central Plains region undertook five major migrations. In the face of constant warfare and upheaval, they moved south in search of peace and wealth. In the 13th century, they began settling in the hills and mountains of Fujian, where they formed communities that became known as Hakka. To defend themselves against marauding bandits and the often-hostile locals, they built huge, defensive residences that became known as Tulous. In them, large groups of people, generally belonging to the same clan, could live in safety.

Seen from the outside, a tulou is like a castle. The structure was solid enough to resist attacks from the outside. The walls were formed of rammed mud and clay prepared with a special formula that ensured its longevity. The buildings, by standing the test of time and surviving numerous natural disasters, have shown that they were more than capable of serving the purpose for which they were originally constructed.

Building a tulou, with its enormous size, was highly labour-intensive, and required huge quantities of materials. The fortified outer structure was formed by compacting earth, mixed with stone, bamboo, wood and other locally-available materials. The end result is a well-lit, well-ventilated, windproof, quake-proof building that is warm in winter and cool in summer. 

Tianluokeng tulou cluster (田螺坑土楼群) is one of the better known groups of Fujian Tulou. It is located in Fujian province, Zhangzhou City, Nanjing County, Shuyang Township, Tian Luo Keng Village (literally "Snail Pit" Village) in southern China.

The cluster consists of a square earth building at the center of a quincunx, surrounded by four round earth buildings.

The five earth buildings at the Snail Pit village are:

1. The square earth building named Buyun building(Reaching the Cloud building) at the center of the quincunx. It was the first earth building at this site, built in 1796. It is three storeys high, each storey has 26 rooms, four sets of stairs, and a circular corridor in front of the rooms. 

The Buyun building was burnt down by bandits in 1936, and rebuilt in 1953 according to the original shape. 

2. The Hechang building, a three storey high round earth building, 

3. Zhenchang building, three storey, round shape, 26 rooms per storey, built in 1930 

4. Ruiyun building, built in 1936, 

5. The last Wenchang building of 1966, 3 storeys, 32 rooms per storey. 

The cluster is located about three or four hours drive (depend on traffic) by car/taxi from Xiamen, through winding and bumpy narrow mountain roads (Fujian Provincial Highway 309 (S309), or county roads).

Cost of the whole trip from Xiamen by taxi is about RMB700-800/trip (go, wait, return)

And the entrance ticket RMB100 included for 3 areas : Tianluokeng Tulou cluster (田螺坑土楼群), Yuchanglou (裕昌樓), Taxia Village (塔下村)