Nanjing Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster

Introduction to Nanjing Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster（南靖田螺坑土楼群）

Tianluokeng tulou cluster is one of the better known groups of Fujian Tulou. It is located in Fujian province, Zhangzhou City, Nanjing County, Shuyang Township, Tian Luo Keng Village (literally "Snail Pit" Village) in southern China.

The cluster consists of a square earth building at the center of a quincunx, surrounded by four round earth buildings (or more exactly, 3 round earth buildings and one oval shape earth building), figuratively nicknamed "Si cai yi tang" (four dishes with a soup).

A tulou (lit. "earth building") is a unique architecture found only in the mountainous areas bordering Fujian and Guangdong in southern China. The "Earth building" is an enclosed buildings, usually square or circular in shape, with a very thick earth wall (up to 6 feet thick) and wooden skeletons, from three to five storeys high, housing up to 80 families. These earth buildings have only one entrance, guarded by 4–5-inch-thick (100–130 mm) wooden doors re-enforced with an outer shell of iron plate. The top level of these earth building have gun holes for defence against bandits. In spite of the earth wall, some of them are more than 700 years old, surviving thru centuries of natural elements, including earthquakes, yet still standing solid. There are more than 35,000 earth buildings to be found in southern China, among them a little over 3,000 have been classified as Fujian Tulou

On July 7, 2008 UNESCO 32nd session held in Quebec city Canada, Tianluokeng tulou cluster was inscribed as one of 46 Fujian Tulou World Heritage Sites.

The five earth buildings at the Snail Pit village are:

Buyun building main gate
Wenchang building main gate
The square earth building named Buyun building (Reaching the Cloud building) at the center of the quincunx. It was the first earth building at this site, built in 1796. It is three storeys high, each storey has 26 rooms, four sets of stairs, and a circular corridor in front of the rooms. The Buyun building was burnt down by bandits in 1936, and rebuilt in 1953 according to the original shape.
The Hechang building, a three storey high round earth building, Zhenchang building, three storey, round shape, 26 rooms per storey, built in 1930
Ruiyun building, built in 1936,
The last Wenchang building of 1966, 3 storeys, 32 rooms per storey.

Location

Nanjing county, Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, China

Main Sights

Buyun building main gate, Wenchang building main gate, Buyun building, The Hechang building, The Wenchang Building, The Ruiyun building, The Zhenchang building

Travel Information

Entrance: CNY100 (combo ticket for Tianluokeng, Yuchang Building and Taxia Village)

free for children under 1.4m; half price for students with the presence of valid ID

Opening Hours: 07:00AM - 07:00PM

Transportation 

From Nanjing downtown

   in Nanjing Railway Station, take tourist bus departing every hour (CNY20, 1.5 hours)

   in Nanjing Coach Station, take tourist bus (CNY20)

From Xiamen

   in Xiamen Hubin South Coach Station, take the regular bus departing at 08:30AM for Tianluokeng (CNY55/person, 3.5hours)

Travel Tips 

1. Recommended length of visit: 2 - 3 hours
 

Tour including Visiting Nanjing Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster

Xiamen and Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster 3 Days Tour