New Highway to Boost Fujian Tulou Tour

Local official of Fujian Province announced a 5.6 billion RMB (800 million USD) investment on 30th of August, 2009, that a 70 kilometer new highway will be built this year to boost the Tulou tour in Fujian Province, adjoining to Taiwan Strait. The new highway project is expected to significantly increase the accessibility to the region where the giant earth building erect, and bring more tourists to the sites.

Fujian Tulou is also known as "Hakka Earthen Fortress", "Hakka Earthen Castle" or "Hakka Round House". It is a form of traditional dwelling architecture of Hakka tribe constructed between the 15th and 20th centuries over 120 km in southwestern mountain region of Fujian province. After being listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2008, the Fujian Tulou tour became increasingly popular and a must see in Southeastern China.

Fujian Tulou houses were built for defensive purposes around a central open courtyard with only one entrance and windows to the outside only above the first floor. Each Tulou house was built as a fortress and functioned as a village unit to accommodate hundreds of residents, usually one family sharing one surname. Therefore Tulou houses are also known as "family kingdoms". It also represents glorious cultures of Hakka people, where you will have a further understanding of China's ethnic cultures.

For more details and vivid pictures of Fujian Tulou, you can consult this article Fujian Tulou - Hakka Fortress on China Odyssey Tours, which could be taken as a good reference.