Dayun & Tianluokeng Tulous

Dennis bought us breakfast at 0700 and left to borrow the car and bring it back.  We got going at 0930, picking Swee and Chen before leaving town heading towards Daoyun Lao in the Raoping area.

Dayun Lao

We arrived at Daoyun Lao around 1040.  This huge octagonal 1587 tulou was once home to 600 villagers.  Now, only about 100 remain.

A tulou literally means an earthen building.  It usually refers to a circular (sometime square) building that is a village to usually Hakka people, in the Fujian and Guangdong provinces.  Hakka Chinese do not have a home province of their own.

We were able to ascend to the upper floors by stairs from unit 18 to admire the views and frescoes.

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Around 1200, we went to a local eatery for lunch of noodles, available in dry or soup version.  What we didn’t realise was that the dry one came hardly any topping but a meaty soup.  We thought that they were pushing extras onto us!

Tianluokeng Cluster

After lunch, we continued towards the Tianluokeng Cluster of Tulous across in Fujian province.  At around 1430, we paid our entry fees for the Nanjing Scenic Area and got to a very pretty little village with a stream through it.

We stopped to appreciate the beauty and the cool clean air.  Our accommodation for the night is in the area but we didn’t bother looking for it.  Once we had feasted our eyes and lungs adequately, we continued in search of the Tianluokeng Cluster.

We caught a glimpse of the five tulous in the cluster on a hillside around 1500 and made a photo stop.

Following the road, we got to another viewpoint where we saw it from on high.  From here, we could clearly see that the cluster consisted of a square one, three circular and an oval tulous.

Unfortunately, it was a long flight of stairs (and then back up later) to get to the four tulous.  Little did we know that there was another place which we could have accessed by car that meant less ups and downs.

All five tulous looked very lived in and not too commercialised, faked or over-restored (which China often can be).  It didn’t look possible or appropriate to explore to the upper levels.

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Nightstop

We backtracked and got to our accommodation at the Herongzhuang Tulou at around 1650.  It was managed by Alice who spoke good English and also acts as a guide.  She had organised rooms nearby for Dennis, Swee and Chen.

My heart sank when I first saw the state of the tulou but our room was comfortable and came with a modern bathroom.

Alice walked us by the stream, muddied by some earthworks today, towards his brother’s restaurant where we had a delicious meal.  We retired early in preparation for an early start.