Fujian Tulou - Chinese Rural Dwellings

Fujian Tulou - Chinese Rural Dwellings


Fujian Tulou is the most extraordinary type of Chinese rural dwellings of the Hakka and others in the mountainous areas in southwestern Fujian, China. They are mostly built between the 12th to the 20th centuries.

Fujian Tulou houses were built for defensive purposes around a central open courtyard with only one entrance and windows to the outside only above the first floor. Each Tulou house was built as a fortress and functioned as a village unit to accommodate hundreds of residents. Therefore Tulou houses are also known as family kingdoms.

In 2008, UNESCO dubbed China's Hakka Houses as an official World Heritage Site, noting the historic, cultural and architectural value of these amazing structures. Constructed from the 12th century up through the 20th, these buildings housed up to 800 people each.