Fujian Tulou

They were built by the Hakka people (literally, hakkas mean guests or visitors) who had migrated from central China to escape what seemed like endless war among warring states and had, over a span of five to six hundred years, settled in the far-flung states of Fujian and Guandong provinces.

Built to protect its inhabitants from bandits and thugs, these earth buildings house families of up to 70 or more, each having its own walled unit while sharing a common veranda, common central courtyard, common ancestor worshipping place and a common water well.

The circle of life

By Zhang Yue; China Daily; April 19 2012

The Hakka people's distinctive homes, called tulou, have a storied past and one today is a prime tourist attraction. Zhang Yue reports in Yongding, Fujian province. There's a joke about tulou, the distinctive homes of Hakka people in Fujian province, which goes a bit like this: Two men are talking and one of them boasts: "My house is so big, it's four stories high." The other responds: "That's nothing - 300 people live at my place." They continue arguing about who has the bigger house and only later, when they arrive home, do they realize that they actually live in the same place. Tulou means "earthen building" in Chinese and is a large communal building representative of Hakka culture. Most are three or four stories high and accommodate hundreds of people, often with the same surname. Yongding county is an ideal place to experience this unique architecture. Tulou are one of the distinctive features of the countryside here and are scattered throughout the mountainous terrain.

circle Of Life

By Ji Xiang; China Daily; february 17 2012

Think about colossal architecture in the ancient West and the palaces of kings and queens come to mind. To many Westerners, the Chinese epitome of such buildings lies right in the heart of Beijing - the Forbidden City.

The home of the Chinese emperors still displays the core tenets of traditional Chinese architecture, but deep down in China's southern provinces a less known but no less impressive structure has been providing an ideal form of housing for generations of farmers.

Tulou, or earthen building, is a communal residence usually in a circular shape that houses extended families.

FM To Fly To Canada To Attend UNESCO Meeting

The Nation; July 7 2008

Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama will travel to Canada to inform Unesco Unesco's World Heritage meeting that Thailand withdrew support for Cambodia's proposal to list Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage Site.

"Thailand's position is that we withdraw our support for the Cambodian proposal to list the temple as a World Heritage Site," Noppadon told a press conference.

He will soon fly to Quebec where the 21-member World Heritage Committee is meeting July 2 to 10 to approve new sites. He will be accompanied with National Security Council chief, and director of the army's Survey Department, he said, Noppadon said, adding that the Unesco is scheduled to consider the World Heritage listing on July 6 or 7.