Chengqi Tulou in Gaobei Tulou Cluster, UNESCO World Heritage site, Yongding, Fujian, China

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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.”

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Size: 3744px × 5616px
Location: China
Photo credit: © Keren Su/China Span / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: architecture, asia, blue, building, castle, china, chinese, chuxi, circular, cluster, culture, destinations, earthen, exterior, fujian, heritage, houses, outdoors, site, sky, travel, tulou, unesco, village, wall, world, yongding