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Sleeping in a Hakka Tulou
Published by Melissa Rodway, Writer
Country: China 
The Experience
China is the fourth largest country in the world, but when travelling through rural China, with combined train and bus journeys often lasting up to 36 hours, it can feel like the largest country in the world. Although this can be a test in personality and patience, put away those dark parts of your soul and remember that it’s about the journey, not the destination. Okay, maybe in China it actually is about the destination.
My intrepid travel partner and I made the trip one hour east of Yongding to explore the world of the Hakka, (meaning “guest people”), an ethnic minority who migrated from northern China during times of war. For one night, we were to live as they do, in a tulou.
Although there is debate about when the first tulou was built, the Hakka have been living in these massive roundhouses since at least the 18th Century. As of 2008, UNESCO deemed the tulou a World Heritage Site. While the younger generation is beginning to seek cleaner, more modern apartments, older generation Hakka continue to live in the thirty thousand tulous scattered between the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Jiangxi and Fujian. Most tulous can be found in Yongding County in the western part of beautiful Fujian province.
A tulou resembles a giant fortress, which is the point of these unique dwellings as the Hakka built them for protection from bandits, wild animals, famine, and persecution. Multi-generational families live in communal style, and share cooking, basic survival chores, and tend to livestock. Because the Hakka have not integrated into local Chinese culture, and continue to speak their own dialect, there is great dependency on one another.
The largest tulous can accommodate up to six hundred people. While the first tulous were rectangular, more modern tulous are circular. The walls are made of mud, rice, adobe and bamboo. Standing in the middle of a tulou feels like being in a bullring or a Greek amphitheatre with the sky large and full above you. The rooms in which families dwell encircle the courtyard vertically, and can be up to five storeys high surrounded by wooden balconies and laundry hanging to dry. The courtyard is the communal area with storage rooms, a well, cooking houses, and livestock such as pigs, chickens and goats. It is also where the Hakka cook, perform chores, eat, entertain, and pray to a central clan shrine.
Arriving in Liulian after two days of travel, we were instantly met by a local who mimed the action for sleep and led us across the street to the rustic Huangxin Lou: a very old and traditional tulou still housing many Hakka. We were led through the courtyard and up several rickety staircases to our very basic lodging. It consisted of a bare room with a light bulb, wooden boards for beds, blankets, a padlock for security, and a bucket for our business—all at the low price of $2. There is no running water at Huangxin Lou, however the Backpacker’s Station across the street allows you to shower.
After having a few beers to muster up some liquid courage, we retired to our room later that night. Although somewhat eerie, extremely dark, and definitely not the comfort of The Four Seasons, our stay was strangely quiet except for the loud beating of our hearts. The Hakka were preparing for a celebration and, unfortunately, we missed out on the pre-party while touring neighbouring tulous that included Zhencheng Lou: thought to be the perfect roundhouse. We awoke early the following morning and left among our guests who were performing their daily chores with little notice of our presence.
One piece of advice: when the huge bolted tulou door closes at 10 p.m… they definitely don't mean 10:01pm.
My intrepid travel partner and I made the trip one hour east of Yongding to explore the world of the Hakka, (meaning “guest people”), an ethnic minority who migrated from northern China during times of war. For one night, we were to live as they do, in a tulou.
Although there is debate about when the first tulou was built, the Hakka have been living in these massive roundhouses since at least the 18th Century. As of 2008, UNESCO deemed the tulou a World Heritage Site. While the younger generation is beginning to seek cleaner, more modern apartments, older generation Hakka continue to live in the thirty thousand tulous scattered between the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Jiangxi and Fujian. Most tulous can be found in Yongding County in the western part of beautiful Fujian province.
A tulou resembles a giant fortress, which is the point of these unique dwellings as the Hakka built them for protection from bandits, wild animals, famine, and persecution. Multi-generational families live in communal style, and share cooking, basic survival chores, and tend to livestock. Because the Hakka have not integrated into local Chinese culture, and continue to speak their own dialect, there is great dependency on one another.
The largest tulous can accommodate up to six hundred people. While the first tulous were rectangular, more modern tulous are circular. The walls are made of mud, rice, adobe and bamboo. Standing in the middle of a tulou feels like being in a bullring or a Greek amphitheatre with the sky large and full above you. The rooms in which families dwell encircle the courtyard vertically, and can be up to five storeys high surrounded by wooden balconies and laundry hanging to dry. The courtyard is the communal area with storage rooms, a well, cooking houses, and livestock such as pigs, chickens and goats. It is also where the Hakka cook, perform chores, eat, entertain, and pray to a central clan shrine.
Arriving in Liulian after two days of travel, we were instantly met by a local who mimed the action for sleep and led us across the street to the rustic Huangxin Lou: a very old and traditional tulou still housing many Hakka. We were led through the courtyard and up several rickety staircases to our very basic lodging. It consisted of a bare room with a light bulb, wooden boards for beds, blankets, a padlock for security, and a bucket for our business—all at the low price of $2. There is no running water at Huangxin Lou, however the Backpacker’s Station across the street allows you to shower.
After having a few beers to muster up some liquid courage, we retired to our room later that night. Although somewhat eerie, extremely dark, and definitely not the comfort of The Four Seasons, our stay was strangely quiet except for the loud beating of our hearts. The Hakka were preparing for a celebration and, unfortunately, we missed out on the pre-party while touring neighbouring tulous that included Zhencheng Lou: thought to be the perfect roundhouse. We awoke early the following morning and left among our guests who were performing their daily chores with little notice of our presence.
One piece of advice: when the huge bolted tulou door closes at 10 p.m… they definitely don't mean 10:01pm.
When to Go to Hakka Tulou
Liulian is in Yongding County in the southeast of China's Fujian province, and enjoys a mild climate throughout the year. The average temperature ranges from 17ºC to 21ºC, although summer can be much hotter. To avoid the rainy season, visit Fujian province from July to December.
To leave Liulian, there are at least two busses a day heading directly to Xiamen. Other busses go to Yongding and Longyan. You can buy your ticket from the “bus station,” which is not really identified as such, but if you arrived by bus, it is where you were dropped off… although that is not made evident upon your arrival. It is also two shops down from one of the only places to eat in town, and around the corner from Backpacker's Station.
To leave Liulian, there are at least two busses a day heading directly to Xiamen. Other busses go to Yongding and Longyan. You can buy your ticket from the “bus station,” which is not really identified as such, but if you arrived by bus, it is where you were dropped off… although that is not made evident upon your arrival. It is also two shops down from one of the only places to eat in town, and around the corner from Backpacker's Station.
Odds n' Ends
Although blankets are provided at the traditional tulous, bring your sleeping bag, and a liner if you have one.
There are still not a lot of overnight travellers at Liulian, and the tourist trail is far from beaten down, with very little English to be found. However, there are a variety of Hakka tulou tours you can take that will allow you to explore the surrounding countryside. Visiting Zhencheng Lou is an excellent way to spend an afternoon, and gives you more than a good taste of the traditional Hakka roundhouse culture.
There are still not a lot of overnight travellers at Liulian, and the tourist trail is far from beaten down, with very little English to be found. However, there are a variety of Hakka tulou tours you can take that will allow you to explore the surrounding countryside. Visiting Zhencheng Lou is an excellent way to spend an afternoon, and gives you more than a good taste of the traditional Hakka roundhouse culture.
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