Missile launch base?? Welcome to the Tulou clusters, a work of Art in the Fujian province, China!


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Asia » China » Fujian » Yongding
May 21st 2009
Published: June 23rd 2009
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Here we go...back on travelblog and way too many blogs to key in! (which I guess is somehow a good thing…)
More UNESCO world heritage sites with the discovery of the Fujian and its famous Tulou (Chinese rammed earth buildings)!
Those unique work of art had initially been misinterpreted as being “missile launch base” by the American in the 60’s and although it is today a good joke, one can only be impressed by those round and square tulou buildings where dozen families live in perfect equality while being protected from the outside world by the structure of the building in itself.

Although this is not on the usual Chinese tourist map, it had been on the “to be seen” list of one of my very best friend Sophie and after a few days I arrived at her place in Guangzhou we were already planning this trip. Minny and Pal joined this trip too (their first one in China!!) and were just as enthusiastic as Sophie and I although the initial 18 hours of train kind of made us think twice about it, but not for too long! So here we go, Thursday night, Guangzhou train station, catching the 7.05pm
It is all about circular energyIt is all about circular energyIt is all about circular energy

View inside the Chuxi Tulou Cluster, a superbe work of Art...
train to Yongding!


Lost in translation…



The train ride in itself was hilarious, playing all sorts of games while keeping the Chinese around us entertained! Followed by the “10PM time to go to bed” (they turn off the lights in the train) thinking we would have a very long night of rest….
mmm…that was until the controller came to wake up us at 2AM in the morning!! Showed her my pass and went straight back to Morphee’s arms…well, for a few seconds only as the controller was already waking me up (again) telling me NOT to fall asleep anymore as we were arriving in Yongding in a few minutes….
She didn’t seem to be joking although a tiny voice in myself was telling me that we were supposed to arrive at 2PM not AM….

A few minutes later, we were on the platform, still wondering how I had managed to misunderstood 2AM for 2PM while ordering the train tickets in Chinese over the phone, somehow happy to be arrived earlier but clearly wondering how at 2AM we were going to find a way to reach the Tulou area (located at a good 40mn drive in the middle of nowhere)…
Somehow, traveling in China has some advantages, the main one being that day and night where tourists might be there is always a vehicle waiting!
A few minutes later, we were on the way to the village of Gaobei with
two hotel rooms waiting for us!


Gaobei Tulou cluster, the “King of the Tulou”



Coming from a tiny path (see snake picture) escorted by the daughter of the hotel owner, the first sight of the Chengqilou nicknamed "the king of tulou" was absolutely astonishing.
Massive, powerful, safe and how so organized…This round four storey tall Tulou is made of four concentric rings hiding a tiny ancestral hall for prayer in its center.
The kitchen areas are located on the first floor, while the storage areas are normally on the second floor and the living quarters on the 3rd and 4th floor. Today, those are mostly inhabited by retirees and their grand childrens, as most of the young generation has moved to the cities where more modern habitations and a job await them.


TianLuoKeng Tulou Cluster & the adventure across the rice terraces!



Perched on top
Rice terracesRice terracesRice terraces

yes...going all the way down...hoping to find the river...still no compas at that time...
of a hill , overlooking the surrounding rice terraces, the Tianluokeng Tulou cluster was going to be a great starting point for some trekking!
As Sophie would say, it is all about balance!
Ahaha, still laughing when thinking about this part of the trip!
After a short visit of the cluster and a relaxing lunch, time to go explore the surroundings and head to the next Tulou cluster (Yuchanglou) on foot, across rice terrace and paddy fields!
Guess at first, they all thought I was joking about it (ok…no one could see a path, and the few people they had asked around told them there was none….), anyhow, could see a few peasant working in their field so there had to be some kind of path!

All about balance…. walking down from the hill, across makeshift bridges, along rice terrace on tiny mud wall, passing by local Hakka people (who truly wondered what the h*** we were doing there), crossing tiny village with old Tulou that appear on none of the map we had seen and finally reaching the river in the valley…pfff…we were on the right direction (sunny day does help…)

All about balance….along the
Local fruits drying upLocal fruits drying upLocal fruits drying up

dont ask how it taste...have absolutely no clue!
river we went! More makeshift bridge, the path was now quasi nonexistent and on both side where muddy paddy field with most likely some Sophie’s best friends (aka the snakes…)
From far away, one could have misinterpreted our group as made of some apprentice acrobats (ok…from very far away….as from closer, I am not too sure how it looked like…)

Shortly after having crossed a tiny temple lost in the middle of nowhere, Sophie’s shoe broke shortly followed by the other one…looks like it is time to go back to a more normal path! End of the balance exercise and back to the tiny road for a MacGyver shoe rescue operation! Not bad, at least for Sophie to be able to walk up to the next village!!


Yuchanglou welcome to the "zigzag building"



Finally reached our next stop! Managed to cross one more bridge (which had became Minny absolute favorite activity!) and Sophie got her shoes fixed!
A few words about Yuchanglou as this got to be one of the most intriguing Tulou we got to visit!
No inner circle here, just a round Tulou with a huge plaza in the center
Snake ! ok dead one...but always got to see one in every single trip so here you go!Snake ! ok dead one...but always got to see one in every single trip so here you go!Snake ! ok dead one...but always got to see one in every single trip so here you go!

for the short story....Sophie didnt believe me when I told her to be careful where she put her feat because of the snakes....well, she pass by that one (didnt see it) and it is only when I took the pic and mentioned the snake that she realised it was NOT a joke....mmmm...
surrounded by 5 storey with 50 rooms on each floor but what makes it interesting is the structure in itself. It has been “renamed” the zigzag building and indeed, the entire vertical wooden post structure is not straight and perpendicular, but zigzags left and right AND it is one of the oldest Tulou (over 700 years of history)!
Still wondering how those two things can go together! Anyhow, seemed that some mistakes had been made when measuring the building materials and back then people had decided to build it anyway, well…it is still there and has demonstrated that just like all the other round tulou it is earthquake proof!

A night by the river… time to enjoy some mijiu (local rice alcohol) and have fun!



Spent the night in the village of Taxia, 2km from Yuchanglou, we found two brand new super clean rooms along the river, simply better than anything we had expected!
After a proper Chinese home style dinner, the owner had us try some of the local rice alcohol which normally I can barely smell, and I got to say it was actually good!! So, took a few mini bottles in take
Local kids along the wayLocal kids along the wayLocal kids along the way

from Tianluokeng to Yuchanglou cluster
away, chairs (yes the one that were in the restaurant...), candles and the cards game! Time to have fun by the river, Chinese style!

Would not go into details except that the team of Sophie and Pal lost big time which meant they were drinking much more than Minny and I and thus loosing even more….classic…
Great night!


HongKeng Tulou Cluster, ghost tulou & wax time!



Nicknamed "the prince of tulou", this got to be the most touristic cluster we got to visit. Nothing truly exciting especially after having visited other similar cluster where barely no tourists were to be found…well with a few exceptions!
We still managed to cross one more massive bridge, visit a “ghost town Tulou” (at least that’s how we all felt when entering this deserted Tulou…still having gooseflesh just thinking about it) and one of the most kitsch museum ever (think Mm Tussaud’s wax museum but Chinese style…)


Chuxi Tulou Cluster, last stop!



Last Tulou and although it is located more than 45mn away from the previous one, the sceneries along the way make the trip worth it!
More river, and a cluster
Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster

Emotion moment (that was before I suggested to walk down the mountain, accross field to reach next village...) Picture taken by Minny
located on top of a hill (for a change), lots of Tulou and an overall pleasant walk around! All of us were absolutely exhausted after those two Tulou days and before we realized it, it was time to head back to Yongding to catch the 11PM train to Guangzhou!

Arrived there early and had plenty of time to play some games by the station (still very entertaining for any person walking by) while waiting for the train…
Waked up the next morning at 6am as we were approaching Guangzhou…”sweet” sound of the morning announcements! (aka info in Chinese about Guangzhou and its touristic sites…)

Welcome back! So…ready for more?



Additional photos below
Photos: 57, Displayed: 28


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Simply happy !Simply happy !
Simply happy !

Gaobei Tulou Cluster
Hired for the time of the picture !Hired for the time of the picture !
Hired for the time of the picture !

Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster ----Picture taken by Pal
InsideInside
Inside

Gaobei Tulou Cluster
A natural moment !! :-)A natural moment !! :-)
A natural moment !! :-)

----Picture taken by Pal
Kids by the swampKids by the swamp
Kids by the swamp

On the way to Gaobei Tulou Cluster
usual sightusual sight
usual sight

Gaobei Tulou Cluster
Basket timeBasket time
Basket time

Gaobei Tulou Cluster
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mini-IMG 9438

Gaobei Tulou Cluster
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mini-IMG 9444

Gaobei Tulou Cluster
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mini-IMG 9459

Gaobei Tulou Cluster


23rd June 2009

like Guangtung village fort
amazing defense for villages

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