Yuchang Lou: China’s Ancient Architectural Ingenuity

If Europe has castles, China has tulous. Tulous are large, fortified buildings usually rectangular or circular in shape. They were traditional Chinese dwellings built by the Hakka people in the mountains of the southeastern Fujian province hundreds of years ago. These fortress-like structures function to protect the people from external threats.

One of the tallest and most significant tulous in China is the Yuchang Lou found in Nanjing County, Shuyang Town, Xiabanliao Village. It is a five-storey tolou with 50 rooms on each floor. It is known as the “zigzag building” because of the crooked wooden posts attributed to a building measurement error. Despite its “crookedness” and seemingly unstable look, Yuchang Lou was still able to withstand 700 years of changing external conditions.

24.572184, 117.354998,Nanjing, Zhangzhou, Fujian, China