Hongkeng Tulou Cluster (Zhenchenglou and Fuyulou)

Hongkeng Village lies in Hukeng Town, Yongding District, Longyan, in the Hakka highlands of western Fujian, China, and is one of the best-known groups in the UNESCO-listed Fujian Tulou. The tulou are large rammed-earth communal dwellings built by Hakka clans, some round, some square, with thick sloping walls, a single gate and timber galleries around an inner courtyard. At Hongkeng, Zhenchenglou, nicknamed the Prince of Tulou, is a large round building with two concentric rings, an inner ring of ancestral hall and rooms, and an elaborate layout of inner courtyards, while Fuyulou is a square tulou with elaborate timber carving and a distinctive layered structure. Visitors walk between the buildings along a stream and old stone lanes, and many still house families who run small tea, snack and souvenir shops on the ground floor. Inside, visitors can climb to upper galleries, look into the central well and ancestral hall, and see how kitchens, granaries and bedrooms were arranged by floor. The combined ticket is about ¥90. Allow three to four hours for the village, longer for photography. Light is best in early morning and late afternoon, when tour groups thin out and low sun warms the earth walls; midday is the busiest period, especially at weekends and public holidays. The village is about three hours by bus from Xiamen to Yongding and then another 40 minutes by local bus or taxi, so many travellers stay overnight in a guesthouse. Spring and autumn offer pleasant weather, while summer can be hot and humid and winter mornings are cool and misty.