Ancient Wisdom: Yongding Earth Buildings: Architectural marvel and symbol of 'Kejia' people's life philosophy

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Now we head to China's southeast Fujian Province for a look at the area's distinctive earthen buildings. These structures hold a special place in the world's architectural history. CGTN's Yang Chengxi brings us this report on these buildings and what they can tell us about the local Kejia people.

YANG CHENGXI YONGDING "What you're about to see is the Yongding earth building in China's Fujian province, a marvel of ancient China's architectural wisdom."

Hundreds of years old, these buildings come in circular and rectangular shapes. 46 of them became UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2008. Lin Rigeng is the owner of Zhencheng building, built it in 1912.

LIN RIGENG OWNER, ZHENCHENG BUILDING "This circular earth building is better than the rectangular ones because when you look out the windows there won't be blind spots. The main purpose of earth buildings was to defend against thieves and wild animals. If you notice there aren't any windows on the first and second floors."

These buildings were built by the Kejia people, historically a group of disenfranchised northerners who wondered south. While they didn't hold key social resources in ancient times, many of them managed to become successful figures by sheer hard work.

LIN RIGENG OWNER, ZHENCHENG BUILDING "This is my uncle. He designed this building. He was an important senator for the government of the Republic of China in the 20s."

At its peak, this building housed 600 people. It was built with a communitarian philosophy, as all 208 rooms are of the exact same size.

LIN RIGENG "For the Kejia people here, we had to rely on each other back in the day. We raise each other's kids, and cared for each other's seniors."

Before the 1980s, the hardship was very real. The major local produce, persimmon, used to just rot in the forest. Now locals have turned them into specialty products. That's all thanks to a surge in tourism after this place became a World Heritage Site. 470 million people visited the area last year.

LIN RIGENG OWNER, ZHENCHENG BUILDING "Locals here use to move out to work at cities. Many earth buildings were abandoned. Now many are coming back to work at hotels and restaurants."

Lin placed persimmons on the ground to spell out "Happy Mid-Autumn's Day" for the tourists. This is an important festival for the Kejia people. The flock of tourists have made the earth buildings a bit less peaceful. But he said it's also what's needed to keep this community alive. YCX, CGTN YONGDING, FUJIAN PROVINCE