Image 1 of 1
15065685su.jpg
Chengqilou Tulou, UNESCO World Heritage site, Yongding, Fujian Province, China. These are earthen houses, several storeys high. They are built along an inward-looking, circular or square floor plan as housing for up to 800 people each. They were built for defence purposes around a central open courtyard with only one entrance and windows to the outside only above the first floor. Housing a whole clan, the houses functioned as village units and were known as a little kingdom for the family or bustling small city.

