YUCHANG LOU

Yuchang Lou is the oldest tulou in Nanjing county, with over 700 years of history, built in 1308 during the Yuan dynasty. Built on 5 floors, each with 50 rooms, it once housed up to 23 families, or around 120 members of the Liu clan. Today, the number of residents has dwindled considerably: only a handful of elderly inhabitants remain. An ancestral temple stands at the center of the courtyard, serving as a place of worship for generations of residents.

Designed for defense, Yuchang Lou has no windows on the first two floors, to protect its inhabitants from bandits and wild animals. Its walls, an impressive 1.8 meters thick, guarantee exceptional solidity.

Yuchang Lou is known for its unique architectural tilt: its wooden pillars have mysteriously tilted over the centuries, some as much as 15 degrees, a unique architectural phenomenon that intrigues visitors, giving the impression that the tulou is about to collapse. Despite its fragile appearance, it has remained perfectly stable for over 700 years, an impressive testament to Hakka architectural genius.

On the first floor, each kitchen has a well connected to a mountain spring, providing fresh water at all times. Big Fish and Begonia , a famous Chinese animated film (Liang Xuan and Zhang Chun, 2016), was shot here, highlighting the mystical atmosphere of the tulou. Another tulou-inspired masterpiece: Mulan.