Fujian Tulou · Hua'an Scenic Area

Fujian Tulou · Hua'an Scenic Area

Fujian Tulou · Hua'an Scenic Area is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There are roughly over 3,000 tulou in Fujian, but only 68 remain in Hua'an County. Although the number is not large, Hua'an tulou occupy a unique and irreplaceable position among Fujian tulou due to their distinctive regional characteristics and special historical, artistic, and scientific value.

The "Er-Yi Lou" in Dashan Village, Xiandu Township, Hua'an, is a typical representative of Hua'an tulou, a masterpiece of Fujian tulou, and a treasure of traditional Chinese residential architecture.

1. Most Livable Environment

"Er-Yi Lou" backs onto Wugong Mountain. The mountain winds into ridges covered with lush trees. In front of the building, the water meanders, offering a broad view—with Turtle Mountain nearby as a screen and Nine Peaks in the distance as a backdrop. To the left, Lion Mountain extends powerfully forward; to the right, Tiger Walk Mountain lies low and recedes, so Xuan Tian Pavilion was added to balance the feng shui, ensuring equilibrium on both sides. Here, beautiful mountains embrace the area, abundant waters converge, and the landscape is picturesque with gathered energy and qi. The mountain back blocks cold waves, the facing water welcomes cool breezes, and the vegetation preserves soil and water. The tulou and its environment organically integrate to form an ideal ecological layout. It boasts not only a uniquely beautiful scenery but also convenience for production and daily life—truly suitable for mountains, water, living, and people.

2. Most Unique Layout

The plan layout of Fujian round tulou is divided into inner corridor style and unit style. Unit-style tulou are concentrated in Pinghe, Zhao'an, Yunxiao, Zhangpu, and Hua'an counties under Zhangzhou City. Most unit-style tulou have single rooms as independent units. However, "Er-Yi Lou" and "Nanyang Lou" in Dashan Village, Hua'an, use multiple rooms as units. "Er-Yi Lou" has ten four-room units, one five-room unit, and one three-room unit around its perimeter. Each unit has its own separate entrance, small courtyard, and dedicated staircase, forming private indoor spaces. The ring of the building encloses a central courtyard, serving as a shared public space for multiple households within the building. By modern standards, it undoubtedly offers the best hierarchical spatial privacy, making it highly suitable for living.

3. Most Thorough Defense

In addition to the general defensive measures of tulou, the fourth-floor outer "hidden corridor" of "Er-Yi Lou" is rare even among Fujian round tulou. To date, aside from "Nanyang Lou," only the round tulou "Lianfang Lou" in Xiapozhen, Pinghe County, and the square tulou "Wushi Lou" in Guzhu Township, Yongding County, have similar outer corridors. The "hidden corridor" not only connects the independent units but also facilitates gunfire rescue during defense, making it undoubtedly the most ideal defensive design. Additionally, using drainage channels as backup escape routes is also rare among Fujian tulou.

4. Thickest Outer Walls

The enclosed outer earthen walls of Fujian tulou are built at the base with river pebbles or strip stones, typically with a bottom wall thickness of 1.1–1.5 meters. The outer earthen walls of "Er-Yi Lou" are built with granite blocks at the base, reaching a thickness of 2.5 meters—the thickest among Fujian tulou.

5. Most Scientific Design

"Er-Yi Lou" not only has a uniquely distinctive overall layout but also features a rarely seen level of scientific design among other tulou. The twelve perimeter unit doors are equipped with wooden half-doors outside the main gate, providing both protection and ventilation, with each door adorned with unique wood-carved floral decorations.

The winding "sound transmission holes" in the outer walls are unique to Fujian tulou, facilitating calls while aiding defense.

Each unit has a cantilevered corridor on the second and third floors, serving as an ideal spot for drying clothes and leisurely relaxation.

Multiple horizontal wooden fixed ladders are installed at the corners of the hidden corridor on the fourth floor, facilitating climbing during roof maintenance.

Additionally, holes are cut into the wooden flooring of the inner corridor on the unit’s second floor. When opened, these holes create vertical shafts connecting multiple floors, allowing long wooden materials for maintenance to be easily hoisted up to the fourth floor and rooftop. These exquisitely thoughtful and humanized designs are truly astounding.

6. Richest Murals

"Er-Yi Lou" preserves 600 square meters of murals from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republican era—an absolute rarity among Chinese residences. Not only are they large in area and quantity, but there is also a rich variety, with a total of 226 murals and 228 painted artworks. The scenes are filled with rustic charm and the vibrancy of daily life, radiating the strong scent of the earth, serving as a true depiction of tulou life and reflecting the aspirations and pursuits of its inhabitants. Especially surprising is the discovery of decorative murals featuring Westerners, foreign scripts, and Western clocks in such a remote mountainous area. This distinct exotic touch is astonishing and stands as powerful evidence of the maritime cultural characteristics of Fujian residences.

7. Best Preserved

Among Fujian’s famous tulou, Yongding County's "Zhencheng Lou" had one trigram section of its outer ring burned down. The inner ring of "Chengqi Lou" was also severely damaged and only recently restored. In Nanjing County, the outer ring of "Shunyu Lou" lacks completed partitions and eaves on the fourth floor, and the inner ring is only half-built.

Among all large round tulou in Fujian with diameters over 70 meters, "Er-Yi Lou" is the best-preserved. From its timber and earthen structural components to its decorative murals, nothing has been replaced, preserving its original state authentically—a truly rare feat.

8. Earliest National Protection Listing

After "Er-Yi Lou" was first published in the ninth issue of Architectural Journal in 1988, it caught the attention of academia. Though it was "discovered" and introduced much later than the Yongding tulou, its unique charm won the favor of many experts and scholars. In 1992, "Er-Yi Lou" became the first among Fujian tulou to be listed as a national cultural heritage site.

Represented by "Er-Yi Lou," Hua'an tulou most vividly embody China’s traditional philosophy of nature and serve as the most valuable examples for exploring human-centered, livable environments.