frauke at large

the most extraordinary type of Chinese rural dwellings in the mountains of Fujian province.

With the national holiday looming in China, I thought I’d avoid the crowds and flee to a quiet, remote place in the south of Fujian province to see the Tulou, or Earth buildings, constructed by the local Fujian and Hakka tribes. Tulou are large, enclosed, fortified circular buildings, between three and five stories high, often housing up to 80 families. They are made from compacted earth, mixed with stones, bamboo, wood and other natural materials to form walls up to 2m thick. Set in amongst jungly, lush vegetation of bananas, rice fields, sugar cane and eucalyptus, they are kind of like individual little villages. The ground floor makes up the kitchen, living room and live stock area, with the upper floors being the sleeping quarters.





We stayed in one for a few nights, which was very cool. At night the red lanterns are illuminated and give off a really dim light creating a nice atmosphere. Ours must have been a luxury version, as we had en-suite tv and a communal bathroom (more rustic versions only have a p*** pot outside each room … nice!). Nevertheless, I have decided, in no uncertain terms, I am too old for chinese communal toilets … they are worse than camping! The Tulou though was grand … the architecture, ambience and charm were exceptional.

Spent one day visiting all the great Tulou in the area and saw all sorts of vignettes of rural Tulou life played out in front of us. There were people drying rice on huge bamboo mats, plucking chickens, cooking, buying moon cake from the local motorcycle delivery person, sitting about chatting …

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