Ancient brick walls, cut porcelain carvings, saddle-shaped walls and upward-curving roof ridges that resemble swallowtail are some major characteristics of traditional Fujian-style architecture. Of note is the Fujian tulou listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, where you can find many details showing the wisdom and myth of the local people.
Tulou, or earthen buildings, are a special type of rural dwelling unique to the Hakka people living in the mountainous areas across the province. The multi-storey buildings were built with a mixture of earth, sand, lime, glutinous rice, bamboo and wood chips tamped into thick load-bearing earth walls. Sometimes called roundhouses, not all earthen buildings are doughnut-shaped. Some are oval, square or rectangular in shape. They range in height from three to five stories and can house hundreds of people who share the same surname and live together in one cohesive community. This unique form of architecture, dotted around mainly in Fujian's Longyan and Zhangzhou, are still well preserved and functioning today, reflecting the wisdom and creativity of the Hakka people.