Encircling the City in the Clouds | Exploring the Hakka Tulou, a Time Capsule of the Hakka People

| Exploring the Hakka Tulou, a Time Capsule of the Hakka People. 🏯 [Secret Realm Quick View] In the folds of the mountains of southwestern Fujian, the Hakka Tulou complexes have amazed the world with the name "Oriental Ancient Castles." The Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster in Nanjing, known as "Four Dishes and a Soup," is like a flying saucer from outer space landing in the mountain valley. The circular patio of Chengqi Building, with a diameter of 73m, is like a vortex of time. The most shocking thing is spending the night in Zhencheng Building. When the moonlight passes over the triple-eaved gable roof, the lights of 200 households light up in the circular corridor in turn, and the aroma of rice wine and the children's rhyme "Moonlight" float out of the rammed earth walls, forming a three-dimensional picture of a living cultural heritage. 🚶 [Exploration Guide] ▫️ Essence Route: Tianluokeng Viewing Platform → Yuchang Building (leaning building) → Taxia Village → Yunshuiyao Ancient Path → Huaiyuan Building (2 days and 1 night) ▫️ Light and Shadow Moments: 06:30 Watch for "Morning Mist over the Tulou," 19:30 Photograph "Stars Around the Enclosure" ▫️ Transportation Tips: Take the "Tulou Express" directly from Xiamen Gaoqi Airport (departures at 8:00/14:00 daily) ▫️ Photography Secrets: Use a wide-angle lens to capture a panoramic view of the architecture | Use a polarizing filter to eliminate reflections from the rammed earth ▫️ Secret Realm Experience: Learn to sing Hakka tea-picking opera / Participate in rammed earth wall restoration / Ancient method of making persimmon wine 🌾 [Five Senses Adventure] Fingertips caress the 700-year-old leaning pillars of Yuchang Building, and the fragrance of pine wood mixed with the moisture of glutinous rice slurry penetrates the palm. At noon in the Zhang Family Ancestral Hall in Taxia Village, the "Nine Halls and Eighteen Wells" banquet is set out on the Eight Immortals table, and the savory aroma of preserved mustard greens with pork and the sweet and sour taste of rice wine explode on the tip of the tongue. The most unforgettable thing is curling up in the circular corridor at midnight. The moonlight shines through the "three-proof" design (fireproof, anti-theft, and earthquake-resistant) lookout holes, casting geometric spots of light on the rammed earth floor, and the sound of the night watchman's bamboo clapper comes from afar. This is a three-dimensional code for the Hakka people to communicate with time and space. 📜 [Hakka Legend] These rammed earth miracles are engraved with ethnic epics: In the Yuan Dynasty, the Hakka people moved south to avoid war, and mutated the genes of the Central Plains courtyard into the form of an enclosure. The "raw earth rammed construction" technique recorded in the Yongle Encyclopedia is still being passed down today. The most mysterious thing is the "Tai Chi Yin-Yang Well" - the inner and outer ring wells of Zhencheng Building. At noon on the winter solstice, the yin-yang double fish pattern will appear with the light and shadow, which coincides with the Hakka people's philosophy of "harmony between heaven, earth, and people." Local elders still use the "Migration Poem" to teach children: "People are endowed with the ambition to travel far and wide, let you stand firm wherever you are." 🌌 [Mental Notes] On the morning of the third day, climb the Wenchang Pavilion viewing platform, and the Tulou complex in the mist looks like the eyes of the earth opening. When the first ray of sunlight pierces through the cooking smoke from the tiled roof of "Four Dishes and a Soup," I suddenly understand the profound meaning of the Hakka folk song "A thousand years of wandering, roots finally settle." These encircled cities built with brown sugar, egg whites, and glutinous rice are nothing more than love letters written by wanderers to the earth? I met a centenarian grandmother drying persimmon cakes. Her cracked palms and the rain marks on the walls of the Tulou are so similar, both are survival badges certified by time. ⚠️ [Survival Rules] ▫️ The circular patio is slippery with moss | Wear non-slip shoes ▫️ Respect the ancestral hall's sacrificial taboos | Consult before photographing the interior of the enclosure ▫️ Bring mosquito repellent to deal with mountain mosquitoes ▫️ The temperature difference between day and night is 15℃ | Prepare a shawl This note is not only a visual feast of architectural aesthetics, but also an in-depth dialogue with migratory civilization. Collect this Hakka codebook and listen to the millennium heart song sealed in the rammed earth walls! 🎑