Follow me to a trip to China

[Perris]

It's called tulou in Chinese, literally means earth building

that is such a clever design for a fortified settlement. I assume the buildings in the middle are communal/storage/shop/service buildings...?

Zooming in the last photo, I saw chickens!!

yay! are they the local landrace?

 

[lightm]

The Hakka Chinese were originally northern Chinese driven to the southern part of China. So they built this smart dwelling to make sure they are not bothered by locals. They are sometimes referred as the jews of China.

They have their own language, which is very different from souther fujian dialect. Both sound Thai or some kind of southeastern Asian language to me.

Hakka people now have spread all over the world. Many in southeast Asia.

 

[lightm]

that is such a clever design for a fortified settlement. I assume the buildings in the middle are communal/storage/shop/service buildings...?

yay! are they the local landrace?

What is local landscape? Local breed? I Really have no idea. I am going to guess local mutt or local ISA.

Yeah, I think the middle buildings are more or less for this purpose.

 

[Perris]

'landrace' is the generic term for chickens that are indigenous to a given area and that have largely evolved on farms with little human input. In particular, they've not been deliberately bred by humans trying to achieve some sort of standard appearance. Basically they're the descendants of the fittest local birds, who survived to reproduce without human intervention. That is, local mutt

 

[tripletfeb]

June 27th. I took a 3 hour bus ride to see this very impressive building/tribe structure unique to the Hakka culture.

First a picture I found online. This is the one I visited.
View attachment 3560900

It's called tulou in Chinese, literally means earth building. I'm quoting Wikipedia, who does a better job describing it
"A tulou is usually a large, enclosed and fortified earth building, most commonly rectangular or circular in configuration, with very thick load-bearing rammed earth walls between three and five stories high and housing up to 800 people. Smaller interior buildings are often enclosed by these huge peripheral walls which can contain halls, storehouses, wells and living areas, the whole structure resembling a small fortified city."

So massive dwellings to house 4 or more generations of people!

***********my visit************
There are 4 buildings in that location, one is under repair, so I visited 3.

First one was young, built 1957
View attachment 3560898

Inside
View attachment 3560897

The 2nd one is hundreds of years old. It's massive and called the king of tulou. See the first picture for its layout.

Outside
View attachment 3560885

Inside. It has 3 rings of buildings.
View attachment 3560895View attachment 3560893View attachment 3560892View attachment 3560896View attachment 3560891View attachment 3560894

The third building is square
View attachment 3560887View attachment 3560886

Other lovely earth buildings between 2nd and 3rd buildings View attachment 3560888View attachment 3560890View attachment 3560889

Zooming in the last photo, I saw chickens!!
View attachment 3560903View attachment 3560904

Gorgeous

 

[Ponypoor]

June 26th. Not much going on.

This is near my hotel. LOTS OF restaurants and street food.
View attachment 3559919

A gigantic chinese banyan tree
View attachment 3559918View attachment 3559920

A super big balloon near city center
View attachment 3559917

A bird flying View attachment 3559921

A corner of Xiamen University
View attachment 3559922

Random street
View attachment 3559923

Those are great photos! Love love love that tree Also I am enjoying seeing the architecture of the buildings

 

[Ponypoor]

'landrace' is the generic term for chickens that are indigenous to a given area and that have largely evolved on farms with little human input. In particular, they've not been deliberately bred by humans trying to achieve some sort of standard appearance. Basically they're the descendants of the fittest local birds, who survived to reproduce without human intervention. That is, local mutt

In my opinion the perfect ‘breed’ of chicken (or any animal bred this way).

 

[Ponypoor]

June 27th. I took a 3 hour bus ride to see this very impressive building/tribe structure unique to the Hakka culture.

First a picture I found online. This is the one I visited.
View attachment 3560900

It's called tulou in Chinese, literally means earth building. I'm quoting Wikipedia, who does a better job describing it
"A tulou is usually a large, enclosed and fortified earth building, most commonly rectangular or circular in configuration, with very thick load-bearing rammed earth walls between three and five stories high and housing up to 800 people. Smaller interior buildings are often enclosed by these huge peripheral walls which can contain halls, storehouses, wells and living areas, the whole structure resembling a small fortified city."

So massive dwellings to house 4 or more generations of people!

***********my visit************
There are 4 buildings in that location, one is under repair, so I visited 3.

First one was young, built 1957
View attachment 3560898

Inside
View attachment 3560897

The 2nd one is hundreds of years old. It's massive and called the king of tulou. See the first picture for its layout.

Outside
View attachment 3560885

Inside. It has 3 rings of buildings.
View attachment 3560895View attachment 3560893View attachment 3560892View attachment 3560896View attachment 3560891View attachment 3560894

The third building is square
View attachment 3560887View attachment 3560886

Other lovely earth buildings between 2nd and 3rd buildings View attachment 3560888View attachment 3560890View attachment 3560889

Zooming in the last photo, I saw chickens!!
View attachment 3560903View attachment 3560904

Amazing buildings very lovely

 

[RoyalChick]

June 27th. I took a 3 hour bus ride to see this very impressive building/tribe structure unique to the Hakka culture.

First a picture I found online. This is the one I visited.
View attachment 3560900

It's called tulou in Chinese, literally means earth building. I'm quoting Wikipedia, who does a better job describing it
"A tulou is usually a large, enclosed and fortified earth building, most commonly rectangular or circular in configuration, with very thick load-bearing rammed earth walls between three and five stories high and housing up to 800 people. Smaller interior buildings are often enclosed by these huge peripheral walls which can contain halls, storehouses, wells and living areas, the whole structure resembling a small fortified city."

So massive dwellings to house 4 or more generations of people!

***********my visit************
There are 4 buildings in that location, one is under repair, so I visited 3.

First one was young, built 1957
View attachment 3560898

Inside
View attachment 3560897

The 2nd one is hundreds of years old. It's massive and called the king of tulou. See the first picture for its layout.

Outside
View attachment 3560885

Inside. It has 3 rings of buildings.
View attachment 3560895View attachment 3560893View attachment 3560892View attachment 3560896View attachment 3560891View attachment 3560894

The third building is square
View attachment 3560887View attachment 3560886

Other lovely earth buildings between 2nd and 3rd buildings View attachment 3560888View attachment 3560890View attachment 3560889

Zooming in the last photo, I saw chickens!!
View attachment 3560903View attachment 3560904

WOW! What a treat. Are they still inhabited, or is it more of a museum now?
Really stunning and looks like it would do a great job at keeping everything nice and cool.

 

[lightm]

WOW! What a treat. Are they still inhabited, or is it more of a museum now?
Really stunning and looks like it would do a great job at keeping everything nice and cool.

Great question. I meant to add, but forgot to say that it is more of a museum now.

The first level is mostly tourism shopping, but there are definitely rooms for dining/living. I managed to get to the upper levels of the 3rd square building, mostly abandoned. Usually the very top floor is for sleeping.

I think many people dont want to live there any more because there is no flushable toilet.