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| Spaceships land |
It all started as a game, count the tulou. How many of these strange structures in the fortress I could see from the window? They were huge, and loomed like spaceships in the countryside of the province of Fujian, in southeast China. Each village seemed to have at least one, two, more.
Then it became an obsession. I asked to be left near the villages perched on the hills and began to count them while I walked on foot.
A Hekeng, home to several hundred people, I counted 13 tulou. (You lou means "building land" in Chinese - a very simplistic description, how to define the Colosseum a stone circle). Seem medieval structures, with high mud walls, tiny windows on the upper floors and generally only one wooden door plated iron from being accessed.
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| Exterior and interior |
The external appearance does not reveal what lies inside. If the remains of the outer walls reminiscent of a prison, the interior reminds riccheza of details of an opera house. Galleries of wooden beams stand majestically even for five floors around a courtyard full of light. Each floor is built of dark wood, with small rooms of the same size arranged side by side.
In the courtyard of cobblestones there is usually a well or two, plus a small niche decorated to venerate the ancestors. It is a space that forces you to look around in a circle, admiring the layout of the rooms and to look up to the sky and the mountains, struck by the boldness of an architecture designed to accommodate a community in a giant impregnable.
The oldest dates back to 1558 tulou, although some say that there are more ancient, explains architect Huang Hanmin. Its construction coincided with the era of confrontation between the Hakka ethnic group, organized in clans, migrated from the plains of northern China, and the groups that lived in the region.
In the picture, the Zhencheng Lou, built in 1912 by wealthy cigarette manufacturers
In the courtyard of cobblestones there is usually a well or two, plus a small niche decorated to venerate the ancestors. It is a space that forces you to look around in a circle, admiring the layout of the rooms and to look up to the sky and the mountains, struck by the boldness of an architecture designed to accommodate a community in a giant impregnable.
The oldest dates back to 1558 tulou, although some say that there are more ancient, explains architect Huang Hanmin. Its construction coincided with the era of confrontation between the Hakka ethnic group, organized in clans, migrated from the plains of northern China, and the groups that lived in the region.
In the picture, the Zhencheng Lou, built in 1912 by wealthy cigarette manufacturers
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| Conversation Piece |
From the beginning their main function was to ensure the safety of those who lived there, "says Huang Hanmin." Historical records reveal the constant threats from bandits, wild animals and warlords. "
To defend itself, the builders erected these walls of compressed clay, limestone and sand that became dry hard as concrete; even five feet thick, were able to withstand cannon fire, flaming arrows, rams and, occasionally, even some earthquake.
Thanks to the increase in population and the riots caused by the communist revolution in China - of which the Hakkas were among the most vocal supporters - the construction of tulou continued into the twentieth century. The 13 of Hekeng tulou were built between the mid-sixteenth century and the early nineteen seventies.
In the three floors of the Dongsheng Lou, completed in 1961, the only difference compared to the known structural tuolou oldest is that the rooms seem a bit 'bigger, although barely able to contain a double bed.
A meeting Hekeng a tea farmer named Zhang, son of the engineer who directed the work of Dongsheng Lou. Each floor, with its thick support beams and 22 rooms, required a year of work. And if it were built today? "Can not build a new one," Zhang replied, shaking his head. "It would cost five times as much made of steel and concrete, not to mention the work that would require.
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| Life of clan |
Almost everyone I meet to Hekeng called Zhang. The villages in the highlands of Fujian settlements are based on clan, with a single surname predominant. Hekeng is a village Zhang. There are villages Su, villages and villages Li Jian, among others.
To meet the needs of these communities so closely linked, the tulou have evolved into structures in which whole branches of a clan, who often came to count hundreds of members, could live inside a single building. It is something never seen elsewhere. The castles of Europe opened the doors to villagers during sieges or wars; the tulou protected them and housed them all the time.
The spaces in the tulou are organized vertically, a necessity forced into a mountainous region with little flat land available. Every family, according to the size. occupying one or more rooms. The first floor, overlooking the courtyard, served as a kitchen and dining room; the second floor of the warehouse; from the third floor up there were the bedrooms.
Corridors and stairs were in common. The rules of conduct (dispose of waste, respect the elderly, contribute to parties municipalities) were posted at the entrance. To increase the sense of community, every room was the same as another, whether they belonged to the head of the clan or the breeder pigs common. (In the photo, a funeral in a tulou).
There are many tulou on top of the mountains, such as the castles of feudal Europe. They are almost all in the valleys, with mountains behind and the water front. This is because their position is chosen according to the principles of feng shui ("wind and water"), the traditional Chinese art of divination environment.
Part common sense, part mysticism, the feng shui is considered a way to align the man with the positive energies that surround it. A good location guarantees wealth, power, and many children. The top of a mountain, exposed to the wind, has not positively for peace and tranquility.
The feng shui of the highlands of Fujian it must be good, because today in the region flock to many tourism revenue.
It all started in 2008 when 46 tulou Fujian (including 13 of Hekeng) were included in the list of World Heritage Site. On the weekends, these country roads are occupied by cars and pedestrians, with the same tulou overflowing with visitors, the structures surrounded by banquets of vendors selling everything from medicinal mushrooms to posters of Mao, to the ashtray shaped of Tolou. (In the photo, the Yuchang Lou, one of the largest ptulou during May 1).
Some tulou were abandoned, as the Liben Lou (pictured), which was destroyed in 1931 during the civil war in China.
Until the fifties of the twentieth century the outside world - including Chinese cities - did not even know of the existence of the tulou. Those in southern Fujian then came to light only after thirty years.
The isolation of the region, the lack of connections and the emptying of villages (the Hakkas have migrated in large numbers to Taiwan, Singapore and other Asian countries) have meant that these architectures remain hidden to most. Huang Hanmin, one of the first to study the region, going from village to village by bicycle.
According to his calculations, today there would be exactly 2,812 tulou, about a thousand less than previously thought. "The list of UNESCO should includerne much more than 46," says Huang.
"Where is everybody?" is the question that springs to mind every time I visit a tulou. In places built to accommodate hundreds of people today there are often five or six at the most. They are often elderly, weak and alone. Weeds sprouting between the stones of the courtyard, and there is standing water in the wells. Sometimes shadows glimpsed a child, often left in the care of a relative elder parents went to work in a distant city. (In the photo, the children of the village of Chuxi gocano outside the school).
In the last quarter century, since China's economy began to run, people left in droves tulou. Nobody wants to live in cramped conditions and no running water. "Only the poor now live in the tulou", is the phrase I've heard often.
"The heart of the people has changed," says Lin Yi Mou showing Eryi Lou, to its heyday a magnificently decorated building that housed 400 people, and is now a museum with a large part of its rooms closed to the public.
"One time," she says, "when the Tolou belonged to a large clan, each family gave its contribution for maintenance. Today no longer want to spend money on something that belonged to their ancestors. They want to spend all if."
But some returns: after years of working in factories, Li Chen has returned to live in the tulou of his wife, where he raises mailai and teaches daughter to pick honeysuckle (pictured).
Only during the holidays the tulou returns to animate. Families return to their places of origin to visit relatives, attend weddings and sleep in the rooms where they lived once, maybe regretting the days when they played in those courts. But when the party is over, everyone returned to his modern house.
The tulou will not disappear any time soon. Their walls are built to defy the centuries. Their construction system could even come back in vogue. Engineers and architects who study this type of architecture seen in the tulou a prototype of "green" building: efficient from an energy point of view, well harmonized in the landscape, and built with natural materials and taken on site.
In the photo, a dragon parade in the parade during the festival of Mazu, the sea goddess and protector of Hakka.
According to the Canadian architect Joerg Ostrowski, the famous four rings Chengqi Lou, built in the early eighteenth century, would have no problem obtaining a LEED certification (an important certification system for sustainable building industry). In neighboring Guangdong province, just outside the megacities of Guangzhou (which is home to about 14 million inhabitants), the architects Urbanus designed a modern version of the tulou to house 278 low-income families (pictured).
Even old tulou can renew itself.
In the tourist town of Taxia, close to many World Heritage buildings, the entrepreneur Zhang Min Xue detected a tulou abandoned eight years and has turned into a guest house called Qingde Lou.
"The hardest part was to install a modern plumbing," says Zhang.
Been there. It was noisy, full of people. The laundry was hanging out. The chickens scratching around on the cobbles. The candles were burning before the image of a local deity. And at night, you sprangava the door. Just like in a tulou.
Kindergartners take a small bus to go to school in the village of Hekeng village. The number of schools in small villages has decreased due to the abandonment of the villages, and often to school you must travel long distances.
To meet the needs of these communities so closely linked, the tulou have evolved into structures in which whole branches of a clan, who often came to count hundreds of members, could live inside a single building. It is something never seen elsewhere. The castles of Europe opened the doors to villagers during sieges or wars; the tulou protected them and housed them all the time.
The spaces in the tulou are organized vertically, a necessity forced into a mountainous region with little flat land available. Every family, according to the size. occupying one or more rooms. The first floor, overlooking the courtyard, served as a kitchen and dining room; the second floor of the warehouse; from the third floor up there were the bedrooms.
Corridors and stairs were in common. The rules of conduct (dispose of waste, respect the elderly, contribute to parties municipalities) were posted at the entrance. To increase the sense of community, every room was the same as another, whether they belonged to the head of the clan or the breeder pigs common. (In the photo, a funeral in a tulou).
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| tourist Attraction |
There are many tulou on top of the mountains, such as the castles of feudal Europe. They are almost all in the valleys, with mountains behind and the water front. This is because their position is chosen according to the principles of feng shui ("wind and water"), the traditional Chinese art of divination environment.
Part common sense, part mysticism, the feng shui is considered a way to align the man with the positive energies that surround it. A good location guarantees wealth, power, and many children. The top of a mountain, exposed to the wind, has not positively for peace and tranquility.
The feng shui of the highlands of Fujian it must be good, because today in the region flock to many tourism revenue.
It all started in 2008 when 46 tulou Fujian (including 13 of Hekeng) were included in the list of World Heritage Site. On the weekends, these country roads are occupied by cars and pedestrians, with the same tulou overflowing with visitors, the structures surrounded by banquets of vendors selling everything from medicinal mushrooms to posters of Mao, to the ashtray shaped of Tolou. (In the photo, the Yuchang Lou, one of the largest ptulou during May 1).
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| hidden Treasures |
Some tulou were abandoned, as the Liben Lou (pictured), which was destroyed in 1931 during the civil war in China.
Until the fifties of the twentieth century the outside world - including Chinese cities - did not even know of the existence of the tulou. Those in southern Fujian then came to light only after thirty years.
The isolation of the region, the lack of connections and the emptying of villages (the Hakkas have migrated in large numbers to Taiwan, Singapore and other Asian countries) have meant that these architectures remain hidden to most. Huang Hanmin, one of the first to study the region, going from village to village by bicycle.
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| Seniors and children |
According to his calculations, today there would be exactly 2,812 tulou, about a thousand less than previously thought. "The list of UNESCO should includerne much more than 46," says Huang.
"Where is everybody?" is the question that springs to mind every time I visit a tulou. In places built to accommodate hundreds of people today there are often five or six at the most. They are often elderly, weak and alone. Weeds sprouting between the stones of the courtyard, and there is standing water in the wells. Sometimes shadows glimpsed a child, often left in the care of a relative elder parents went to work in a distant city. (In the photo, the children of the village of Chuxi gocano outside the school).
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| Sometimes they come back |
In the last quarter century, since China's economy began to run, people left in droves tulou. Nobody wants to live in cramped conditions and no running water. "Only the poor now live in the tulou", is the phrase I've heard often.
"The heart of the people has changed," says Lin Yi Mou showing Eryi Lou, to its heyday a magnificently decorated building that housed 400 people, and is now a museum with a large part of its rooms closed to the public.
"One time," she says, "when the Tolou belonged to a large clan, each family gave its contribution for maintenance. Today no longer want to spend money on something that belonged to their ancestors. They want to spend all if."
But some returns: after years of working in factories, Li Chen has returned to live in the tulou of his wife, where he raises mailai and teaches daughter to pick honeysuckle (pictured).
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| Holidays |
Only during the holidays the tulou returns to animate. Families return to their places of origin to visit relatives, attend weddings and sleep in the rooms where they lived once, maybe regretting the days when they played in those courts. But when the party is over, everyone returned to his modern house.
The tulou will not disappear any time soon. Their walls are built to defy the centuries. Their construction system could even come back in vogue. Engineers and architects who study this type of architecture seen in the tulou a prototype of "green" building: efficient from an energy point of view, well harmonized in the landscape, and built with natural materials and taken on site.
In the photo, a dragon parade in the parade during the festival of Mazu, the sea goddess and protector of Hakka.
 |
| Tulou modern |
According to the Canadian architect Joerg Ostrowski, the famous four rings Chengqi Lou, built in the early eighteenth century, would have no problem obtaining a LEED certification (an important certification system for sustainable building industry). In neighboring Guangdong province, just outside the megacities of Guangzhou (which is home to about 14 million inhabitants), the architects Urbanus designed a modern version of the tulou to house 278 low-income families (pictured).
Even old tulou can renew itself.
In the tourist town of Taxia, close to many World Heritage buildings, the entrepreneur Zhang Min Xue detected a tulou abandoned eight years and has turned into a guest house called Qingde Lou.
"The hardest part was to install a modern plumbing," says Zhang.
Been there. It was noisy, full of people. The laundry was hanging out. The chickens scratching around on the cobbles. The candles were burning before the image of a local deity. And at night, you sprangava the door. Just like in a tulou.
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| kindergarten |
Kindergartners take a small bus to go to school in the village of Hekeng village. The number of schools in small villages has decreased due to the abandonment of the villages, and often to school you must travel long distances.
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