In the previous article, we shared about our charming tulou tour of Taxia Village and Xiaban Village, and Yuchang Lou with its nearly 700-year history. This time, we report on our visit to the Gaobei Tulou Cluster in the Yongding area, particularly featuring Chengqi Lou, which holds the nickname “King of Tulou.”
Previous article is here
To the Yongding Area
While traveling by car from Tianluokeng toward the Yongding area, as we passed through Xiaban Village, the road suddenly became lively. People dressed in vibrant red and gold costumes were marching through the village streets, playing drums and flutes. When I asked Mr. He Chao about it, he said it was a traditional festival of the Zhang clan. There are many people with the surname Zhang in this area, and this is a major annual festival to show respect to their ancestors. Being unexpectedly able to witness living local culture made our journey even more fulfilling.
Continuing our drive, we arrived at the ticket center for Fujian Tulou Yongding Scenic Area. Like the tulou clusters in Nanjing, we needed to purchase entrance tickets in advance here as well. According to Mr. He Chao, Nanjing and Yongding are managed separately, so new tickets are required. We bought tickets that included both the “King of Tulou Scenic Area” and “Prince of Tulou Scenic Area” as a set, and finally headed toward the Gaobei Tulou Cluster.
Tulou clusters in the Yongding area require entrance tickets for each area
Gaobei Tulou Cluster
The Gaobei Tulou Cluster is located in Gaobei Village, Gaotou Town, Yongding District, Longyan City, Fujian Province, backed by Jinshan Mountain at an elevation of about 800 meters. Jinshan is covered with lush forests, and in front flows the Gaotou Stream, which flows into the Jinfeng Stream, one of Yongding District’s three major rivers.
The history of this tulou cluster is ancient, beginning when Jiang Bailang, the founding ancestor of the Jiang surname, moved here from Shanghang County in the mid-14th century (late Yuan Dynasty). Construction of Wuyun Lou began during the Ming Dynasty’s Yongle period (1403-1424), and later, during the Ming’s Chongzhen period, construction of Chengqi Lou began.
The Gaobei Tulou Cluster mainly consists of four tulou: Chengqi Lou, Wuyun Lou, Shize Lou, and Qiaofu Lou, serving as the residential area for the Jiang clan. On November 16, 2009, it was designated as Fujian Province’s 7th provincial-level cultural relic protection unit, recognizing its historical and cultural value.
Upon arriving at the Gaobei Tulou Cluster, we noticed that tourist development had clearly progressed more than in the Nanjing tulou clusters. Souvenir shops line both sides of the road, and there were quite a few tourists. The tulou-shaped ice candy we had seen the day before was also being sold here.
The ice candy I was curious about yesterday. Souvenirs seem to be basically the same wherever you go.
What was even more interesting was an elderly man selling edible frogs. Mr. He Chao said he didn’t particularly like them, but I had experience eating frog dishes before and knew how delicious they could be, so I was somewhat interested. When I mentioned this, Mr. He Chao was surprised that I, being from outside China, had eaten frog before.
Gaobei Village is overall beautifully maintained, with stone-paved paths and small gardens planted with colorful flowers adding vibrancy to the traditional tulou landscape. The tulou are connected by bluestone paths, and from each tulou extends a bluestone road up to the hillside behind. Viewed from above, their arrangement creates a harmoniously picturesque scene.
Scenic area maintained with stone paving
Discovery at Qiaofu Lou
We first visited Qiaofu Lou. This tulou is a relatively new circular tulou built in 1962, constructed by three Jiang brothers who had lived in Myanmar and America. It’s an internal corridor-style circular building with a site area of 2,300 square meters, 3 stories high, and 30 rooms inside.
“Today have rooms” means you can stay tonight. However, since some guesthouses don’t accept foreign guests, it’s better to make reservations in advance rather than visiting spontaneously if possible.
At the entrance, there was information that they also operate a guesthouse. According to Mr. He Chao, recently the experience of “staying in a tulou” has become popular on social media, and many tulou have started guesthouse businesses. However, since these are old buildings, you can’t expect modern facilities (though as someone who enjoys authentic Chinese experiences, that’s actually preferable).
Inside Qiaofu Lou, corridors follow the circular structure, and small waterways flow beneath the floors. The sight of water flowing over moss-covered stones had a tranquility that made you forget urban noise. These waterways have existed since ancient times, and in tulou, water is precious – used not only for drinking and cooking but also as natural air conditioning in summer.
Western-style columns reminiscent of Greek temples
Qiaofu Lou’s greatest feature is its “strong Western flavor.” The ancestral hall protruding into the inner courtyard has four stone columns and a granite floor, creating a refined atmosphere reminiscent of ancient Greek architecture. This East-West hybrid ancestral hall is a representative example of the new type of tulou in Xinbei Village. This tulou is also called “Doctor Building” because it has produced 11 PhDs. The Hakka culture of valuing education seemed to be evident here as well.
Inside the ancestral hall are photos chronicling the history of Gaobei Village
Photos of PhDs produced by the tulou are also displayed. The image of a modern, beautiful female PhD who would fit right into contemporary times has become particularly talked about
“King of Tulou” Chengqi Lou
After leaving Qiaofu Lou, we finally arrived at the “King of Tulou,” Chengqi Lou. This tulou was built by Jiang Jicheng (1635-1719), the 15th generation ancestor of the Jiang surname in Gaotou, taking 81 years to complete and finishing in the 48th year of the Qing Kangxi period (1709). Because construction was blessed with good weather throughout, locals also call it “Heaven-Blessed Building.”
In the square in front of the entrance, vendors offering drone photography and video services wait for customers. The cost is quite expensive at about 1,000 yen per shoot. However, since we brought our own drone, we were able to fly it from a slightly distant open area and enjoy aerial photography from above.
From above, Chengqi Lou’s amazing four-ring structure is clearly visible. This tulou faces south from the north and has a complex structure consisting of four concentric rings. The outer diameter is 62.9 meters, the outer wall circumference is 1,915 meters, the corridor length is 229.34 meters, and the construction area covers 5,376.17 square meters. Mr. He Chao also looked at the screen and jokingly said that we might make money if we started this kind of drone photography business.
Interior Structure and Features of Chengqi Lou
After finishing drone photography, we finally entered the interior of Chengqi Lou. Upon entering, we were immediately overwhelmed by its complex structure. Multiple concentric ring structures continue like a maze, disorienting enough to make first-time visitors lose their sense of direction. Unlike other tulou with open courtyards, this one characteristically has narrow passages.
The center of Chengqi Lou consists of a single-story circular building with a main hall, corridors, and semicircular ceiling. The main hall with carved beams is the ancestral hall and also serves as the assembly hall for the entire building. The second ring is single-story with 20 rooms and 3 passages. The third ring is two-story, with 34 rooms on the ground floor, 2 wells, and 7 passages, with partial small courtyards between the rooms and the second ring. The second and third rings were originally for receiving guests, reading, and resting, but later, as population increased, many were converted to kitchens, dining rooms, and residences.
Kitchen inside the outermost ring
The main building of the outer ring is 4 stories with 67 rooms, equipped with 4 staircases, 1 main gate, and 2 side gates. The walls of the outer ring’s ground floor are 1.7 meters thick, gradually thinning toward the upper floors but maintaining 1.1 meters thickness even at the top. The roof extends widely, designed to protect the earthen walls from rain.
The four staircases of the outer ring are arranged in the southeast, northeast, southwest, and northwest directions, connecting the corridors of each floor. Partition walls are installed on each floor from the left and right of the outer ring’s main gate hall, south sides of both side gates, and from the rear end of the central axis to the outer wall. The gates, staircases, and rear partition walls divide the outer ring into eight trigrams, each with 8 rooms, totaling 64 rooms (including 4 stairway rooms, excluding 3 gates). The entire building’s layout corresponds to the Taiji, Liangyi, Sanyuan, Sixiang, Bagua, and 64 hexagrams of the I Ching’s prenatal 64-hexagram diagram.
The second ring also has guesthouse facilities
Room doors continue on both sides, and occasionally you see souvenir shops. What surprised me was seeing local residents cooking normally right next to corridors bustling with tourists. Elderly residents cooking soup in large pots while camera-wielding tourists pass by. I was impressed by how daily life and tourism strangely harmonize.
Life and tourism intersecting inside the tulou
Walking through the corridors, I noticed small stalls selling hand-rolled cigarettes. According to Mr. He Chao, while you can basically only buy government-sold cigarettes in China, private manufacturing and sales are specially permitted in Fujian tulou (I forgot the details, but licensing-wise they fall into a different category from regular cigarettes). This is probably permitted under the pretext of preserving traditional culture and as a source of income for tulou.
Booth selling hand-rolled cigarettes
Resident making hand-rolled cigarettes
Tobacco production has been and remains a major industry in the Yongding region
At the innermost part of the tulou is the ancestral hall where ancestors are enshrined. In the solemn atmosphere, ancestral tablets of the Jiang clan are arranged. Seeing Mr. He Chao quietly bow his head, I naturally bowed as well. I realized that tulou are not just buildings but places filled with family bonds and history, which is why many people continue to live in traditional tulou despite them being less convenient than modern buildings.
The Legend of “Mother-in-law and Daughter-in-law Boasting About Buildings” and Hakka Spirit
Chengqi Lou has an interesting anecdote. Long ago, at a wedding banquet, two young women boasted about the size of their respective tulou. One said, “It has four floors, four rings, and over 400 rooms,” while the other replied, “Over 700 people live there, and even after three years of marriage, I still can’t remember everyone’s faces and names.” However, when asked the names of their buildings, everyone around burst into laughter. Both women lived in Chengqi Lou – one on the east side and the other on the west side. They were actually mother-in-law and daughter-in-law but had never met because the building was so large.
This anecdote of “Mother-in-law and Daughter-in-law Boasting About Buildings” helps us appreciate the massive scale of Chengqi Lou. At its peak, this tulou housed over 600 people in 80 households, truly deserving to be called a “family castle.” Professor Keiichiro Motegi of Tokyo University of the Arts also reportedly called this tulou a “family castle.”
Summary
The experience at the Gaobei Tulou Cluster, particularly the four-ring structured “King of Tulou” Chengqi Lou, became a deep cultural experience that went beyond mere sightseeing. While tourist development has progressed, this fascinating space where many residents still live and tradition coexists with modernity leaves deep impressions on visitors.
At dusk, as we left the tulou, Mr. He Chao told me that tulou are symbols of Hakka people’s wisdom and unity, and that the spirit of supporting each other through difficult times that people practiced in the past continues to be inherited today. His words made it a memorable day.
Next time, we’ll write a visit report about the Hongkeng Tulou Cluster, known as the “Prince of Tulou.”
