Fujian: visit the Hakka Earth Buildings in Yongding

The Earth Building Complex in Yongding, China’s southeast Fujian Province first appeared in Song Dynasty(360-1279) and then has been matured in Qing Dynasty and the Republican of China. Among those in the list of World Cultural Heritage Lists, both the oldest and the youngest earth buildings are located at the Chuxi Earth Buildings cluster, among which the oldest one is the 600-year-old Jiqing Earth Building.

The earth building in Fujian mainly are distributed in Yongding, Wuping and Shanghang County in western Fujian and Nanjing, Pinghe, Hua’an and Zhangpu County in the southwest. There are totally more than 3,000 earth buildings scattering in the the border area of Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong Provinces, among which the Yongding Earth Building is the most famous one. Its structure, decorations and construction techniques are exceptional in the world.

The tour guide told us that a magnitude 7 earthquake once cracked a 20cm fissure on the Huanji Building of Yongding Earth Building in the history, but later it is recombined by itself according to some historical materials, which can be said as a miracle. Being a natural conditioner, The earth building can keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer. The Chengqi Building in Yongding Earth Building Complex possesses 384 rooms and can contain 800 people at most. These Earth Buildings in Fujian embodies profound Chinese traditional culture.