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Dunzai Village Walled Dragon House

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The Dunzai Village Walled Dragon House is located in Dunzai Village, Dun Tang Village, Shuichun Town, Luhe County, Shanwei City, Guangdong Province. Originally built in the 17th year of the Shunzhi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1660), it is a municipal-level cultural heritage site in Shanwei. In September 2012, it was included in the "Guangdong Folk Cultural Heritage Rescue Project – Guangdong Ancient Villages." In November of the same year, it was recognized as the "Most Architecturally Distinctive Village" in the "Search for Guangdong’s Top Ten Most Beautiful Ancient Villages" competition jointly organized by Southern Daily, the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the Guangdong Folk Artists Association.

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The Dunzai Village Walled Dragon House is located in Dunzai Village, Dun Tang Village, Shuichun Town, Luhe County, Shanwei City, Guangdong Province. Originally built in the 17th year of the Shunzhi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1660), it is a municipal-level cultural heritage site in Shanwei. In September 2012, it was included in the "Guangdong Folk Cultural Heritage Rescue Project – Guangdong Ancient Villages," and in November of the same year, it was selected as the "Most Architecturally Distinctive Village" in the "Search for Guangdong’s Top Ten Most Beautiful Ancient Villages" campaign jointly hosted by Southern Daily, the Guangdong Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and the Guangdong Folk Artists Association.

Dunzai Fortified Dragon House

Century-old Walled Dragon House

The Dunzai Village Walled Dragon House faces southwest and is built atop a small hill resembling a turtle’s back. Designed according to the principles of Yin-Yang and the Eight Trigrams, it has an oval layout featuring staggered gray-tiled wing rooms and twelve cross-alleyways. These elements interweave left and right, combining outer curves with an inner square formation, creating a pattern reminiscent of a turtle’s shell, hence earning the nickname “Turtle-shaped Walled Dragon House.” This walled residence was constructed as a communal dwelling for clan members. Built with a brick, wood, and tile structure, the enclosure stands 6 meters high, has nine rows horizontally and three rows vertically, totaling over 200 rooms. It has two gates—one on the east and one on the west. The west gate features a two-story upturned-eave design with two cannon ports resembling a turtle’s eyes. Its lintel bears a stone plaque inscribed with “Chuan Yue Zhong Xiu” (meaning “Mountains and Rivers Exhibit Fineness”). The east gate has a stone plaque engraved with “Ying Long Men” (meaning “Welcoming the Dragon Gate”), dated “13th Year of Qianlong, Early Winter, Erected on an Auspicious Day.” Each gate is equipped with a naturally formed stone sill—one made of bluestone and the other of cinnabar stone. Outside the enclosure lies a circular horse-riding lane, a mysterious well, and nine ponds. The structure spans a total width of 80 meters and a depth of 90 meters, covering an area of 7,200 square meters. In front of the main gate stand a pair of granite stone bars, which once served as flagpole stands for the official banners of a pair of imperial examination scholars from the same clan—grandfather and grandson.

Dunzai Fortified Dragon House

The Dunzai Village Walled Dragon House is a large Hakka clan residence, serving both as a long-term residential complex convenient for daily production and life, and as a defensive structure against outside threats. It is one of the rare and classic examples of traditional dwellings in eastern Guangdong.

Dunzai Fortified Dragon House