Cuimei Building

Cuimei Building

Built in 1831, Cuimei Building has four floors with 34 rooms on each. Among tulou buildings, it is not particularly large.

But this tulou has several special features:

First, it leans sideways.

Among Fujian tulou, the Yuchang Building is the most famous “Leaning Tulou,” but Cuimei Building is equally typical.

“Leaning,” or the crooked building — as the name suggests, it is tilted. However, this isn’t obvious from the outside. The moment you step through the entrance, you’re suddenly confronted with the fact that the third and fourth floors of Cuimei Building have crooked pillars. The pillars on the first two floors are straight, but upon reaching the third and fourth floors, they suddenly slant — and not in the same direction: the third floor tilts to the left, while the fourth tilts to the right.

Second, the beauty of imperfection.

Less than half of the rooms in the entire tulou are intact; the rest lack flooring and partition walls, leaving only the frameworks. But the magic of the tulou lies in this — even when parts are damaged, the other sections remain fully habitable.

Address: Cuimei Building, Yunshuiyao Ancient Town, Meilin Town, Nanjing County, Fujian Province

Recommended visiting time: 1–2 hours

Ticket price: 5 RMB

Source: Fujian Provincial Tourism Development Commission