Ancient Chinese architectural wisdom: Yongding earth buildings

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The distinctively shaped Yongding earth buildings in southeast China's Fujian Province are marvels of ancient China's architectural wisdom.

Hundreds of years old, these buildings come mainly in circular and rectangular shapes. In 2008, 46 of them became UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Lin Rigeng is the owner of Zhencheng Building, built in 1912.

"This circular earth building is better than the rectangular ones because when you look out the windows there won't be blind spots. The major 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," said Lin.

Zhencheng Building was built in 1912. /CGTN Photo

At its peak, this building could accommodate 600 people. It was built with a communitarian philosophy, as all 208 rooms are of the exact same size. And it still serves as homes now.

"For the Hakkas here, we had to rely on each other back in those days. We raised each other's kids, and cared for each other's seniors," said Lin.

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, thanks to the booming tourism after those earth buildings gained their World Heritage status.

4.7 million people visited the area last year. "Locals here used to move out to work at cities. Many earth buildings were abandoned. Now many are coming back to work at hotels and restaurants," said Lin.

Hundreds of persimmons are placed in front of the building to celebrate mid-autumn’s day. / CGTN Photo

Lin placed persimmons on the ground to spell out letters reading "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival" as a goodwill gesture to tourists.

This is an important festival for the Hakkas. The flock of tourists have made the earth buildings a bit less quiet and peaceful. But he said it's also what's needed to keep this community alive.

1654km