China Guide
Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan Island
Zhencheng Lou
An hour's bus ride east of Yongding, Zhencheng Lou is considered to be the most perfect Hakka roundhouse or tulou, the traditional fortified home of Hakka clan families. This century-old home forms the well-maintained, if slightly sterile, centrepiece of the Zhencheng Village tourist attraction (¥50): plain and forbidding on the outside, the huge outer wall encloses three storeys of galleried rooms looking inwards to a central courtyard where guests were entertained, and which contained the clan shrine. The galleries are vertically divided into eight segments by thick fire walls, a plan that intentionally turns the building into a giant bagua, Taoism's octagonal symbol. This powerful design occurs everywhere in the region, along with demon-repelling mirrors and other Taoist motifs. An almost disastrous consequence of roundhouse design – which from above looks like a ring – was that (so locals say) the first US satellite photos of the region identified the houses as missile silos.
The tourist village also features other, more "authentic", houses (still lived in), including Rushen, one of the smallest multistorey roundhouses; and Kuijiu, a splendid, 160-year-old square-sided Hakka mansion, its interior like a temple squeezed into a box.
From Zhengcheng it's easy to organize trips (about ¥100 for a full day) to surrounding tulou, including Chengqi Lou, the largest roundhouse of them all, built in 1709, with more than 300 rooms housing more than 400 people; Tianhe Lüguan, a remote and remarkably active grouping of five large houses – including three roundhouses, one square walled house and one oval – that date back 300 years and still house 600 people; and Yuchang Lou, the oldest (built in 1309) and, at more than 21 metres, the tallest of the roundhouses.
Guesthouse owners meet the Yongding bus, offering modern rooms (Price: Under ¥79) or the chance to stay in the impressive but very basic Huangxin Lou opposite (Price: Under ¥50). Mr Li at the Backpacker's Station is particularly hospitable.
Moving on from Zhengcheng, you could take one of several daily buses to Yongding and Longyan from where it's a short skip into Guangdong. Alternatively, three daily direct buses head to Xiamen (4hr 30min; ¥63).