Fujian Tulou: Yongding vs Nanjing — Which Hakka Earth-Building Cluster Should You Visit?

Last verified: 13 June 2026 · Based on TravelerLocal city research for Longyan and Zhangzhou (verified by scrape, June 2026)

What a tulou actually is

A tulou (土楼, "earth building") is a fortified communal home built by the Hakka people of southwestern Fujian, mostly between the 12th and 20th centuries. The classic version is an enormous ring — rammed-earth walls a metre or more thick, three to five storeys high, wrapped around a central courtyard — that housed a whole clan, sometimes hundreds of people, behind a single gate. Others are square, rectangular, or oval. They were defensive by design: thick walls against bandits and feuding neighbours, one heavy door, gun-slit windows high up, and a self-contained world of wells, granaries and ancestral halls inside. Up close they feel less like monuments and more like apartment blocks, because that is what they are — and in many of them, families still live.

In 2008, UNESCO inscribed forty-six of these buildings as the "Fujian Tulou" World Heritage Site. That single listing is the root of nearly every traveller's confusion, because those forty-six buildings are not in one place. They are scattered across several counties, and the two that matter for visitors sit in two different prefectures, reached by two different roads, charging two different sets of tickets. When people say "the tulou," they usually mean one of two places without realising there is a choice to make.

Why there are "two" tulou places people mean

The two access areas are Yongding and Nanjing county, plus a quieter third option, Hua'an.

• Yongding tulou in Longyan — Yongding County (永定) belongs to Longyan prefecture, in western Fujian. This is the land of the giant round earth buildings: the showcase Zhencheng Lou, the colossal "King Tulou" Chengqi Lou, and the terraced hillside cluster of Chuxi.
• Nanjing tulou in Zhangzhou — Nanjing County (南靖, pronounced Nán-jìng, and nothing to do with the big city of Nanjing near Shanghai) belongs to Zhangzhou prefecture, in southern Fujian. This is the land of the postcard shots: the spiral Tianluokeng "four dishes and a soup" cluster and the willow-and-camphor riverside village of Yunshuiyao.
• Hua'an — a third, much smaller and less-visited access point, home to the Eryi Lou; most foreigners skip it unless they are completionists.

They are part of the same heritage listing, but they are a separate trip in a separate direction, and you cannot casually do both in one day. Decide which side you are doing before you book anything.

The honest Yongding-vs-Nanjing comparison

Here is the decision laid out plainly.

	Yongding (Longyan)	Nanjing (Zhangzhou)
Prefecture	Longyan, western Fujian	Zhangzhou, southern Fujian
Signature buildings	Round "King Tulou" Chengqi Lou (Gaobei); showcase Zhencheng Lou (Hongkeng)	Spiral Tianluokeng ("four dishes and a soup"); riverside Yunshuiyao
Main clusters	Hongkeng, Gaobei, Chuxi	Tianluokeng, Yunshuiyao (+ Taxia, Yuchang Lou)
The classic photo	The enormous round ring seen head-on	The five-building spiral seen from the hillside viewpoint
From Xiamen	Direct bus ~3 hrs to Liulian/Tulou station; or fast train Xiamen North–Longyan ~1 hr 15 min, then ~2 hrs by bus	Easier: high-speed train to Nanjing County station 30–60 min; bus from Fang Lake station ~2 hrs; direct bus to Yunshuiyao from Wucun coach station
Internal transport	Scattered; Gaobei ~4 km from Hongkeng, Chuxi 30–40 min further; car/driver needed	Scattered; Taxia–Yuanglou ~3 km, on to Tianluokeng ~7 km; sparse in-park bus or car needed

Geography and which clusters. Yongding's three clusters are strung across rural valleys. Hongkeng (also written Hukeng) is the government-designated showcase and the easiest to reach by public transport, holding the ornate Zhencheng Lou. Gaobei, about 4 km east, holds Chengqi Lou — the most photographed round tulou anywhere, and also the most tourist-geared and shop-heavy. Chuxi, 30–40 minutes further south, is the quietest and to many eyes the prettiest, a stack of weathered earth buildings climbing a hillside above a stream.

Nanjing's draw is the shape. Tianluokeng is five buildings on a hill — one square tulou ringed by four round and oval ones — that locals nickname "four dishes and a soup," and from the road viewpoint above it, it is the single most iconic tulou image in China. Its ticket also covers Yuchang Lou (the leaning 1308 building, tilted up to ~15 degrees and called the oldest tulou in Fujian) and the stone-paved village of Taxia. Yunshuiyao is the gentler half: a riverside "ancient town" street with a stream lined by old camphor trees, tulou spread further apart, and a boardwalk made for a slow stroll.

Day-trip vs overnight. Either side can be done as a long day from Xiamen, but both reward an overnight. Sleeping inside an earth building — waking up in a centuries-old rammed-earth ring before the tour buses arrive — is genuinely the best thing on offer here, and it is what separates a memory from a photo stop. On the Yongding side you can sleep in or around Hongkeng/Hukeng; on the Nanjing side, in Taxia or Tianluokeng.

From Xiamen, logistics. Most foreign visitors reach both areas from Xiamen, not from Longyan or Zhangzhou city. Nanjing is the easier of the two: barely an hour and a half to two hours out, with high-speed trains to Nanjing County station and a direct bus to Yunshuiyao. Yongding is further — count on roughly three hours by direct bus, or the fast train to Longyan plus a long bus leg beyond. Whichever you choose, the painful part is not getting to the area but getting around it once you arrive.

Crowds and authenticity. The famous showcase buildings on both sides — Zhencheng Lou, Chengqi Lou, the Tianluokeng viewpoint — fill with tour groups by mid-morning and are ringed with souvenir stalls. The genuine, lived-in tulou are the smaller, quieter ones a short walk away, where laundry hangs in the courtyard and someone's grandmother is shelling beans. Go early or late, on either side, and the place transforms.

So which side? If the giant round earth building is the image in your head, go Yongding. If the spiral five-building cluster or the willow-lined riverside village is your must-have shot, go Nanjing — and from Xiamen, Nanjing is also simply closer and easier.

The honest-broker bits nobody puts on the brochure

These are living homes. It is easy to forget, walking around with a camera, but most tulou are still inhabited, even as younger people have left for coastal factory jobs and the villages skew old and young. The polished showcase buildings are the least authentic part of the experience; the real thing is the quiet, smaller tulou next door where people are going about their day. Keep your voice down, ask before you photograph people or step into private quarters, and treat the place as somewhere people live rather than a theme park. You will get both better photos and a better experience for it.

Don't double-pay both unless you are a tulou nerd. There is no single all-area pass that links Yongding and Nanjing — they are in different prefectures, and even within each side, every cluster charges its own separate gate ticket. Cluster-hopping means paying again at every entrance. The one bundle that exists is the two-day combined ticket linking Hongkeng and Gaobei on the Yongding side. For most travellers, one side, done well over a day or an overnight, beats a frantic, expensive attempt to see everything. Visiting both sides only makes sense if you are genuinely fascinated by the architecture and have three or more days to give it.

Staying overnight beats day-tripping. A day trip from Xiamen means a lot of hours on a bus to arrive when the coaches do and leave before the light turns golden. An overnight lets you have the famous buildings to yourself early and late, eat a proper Hakka dinner — stuffed tofu, springy hand-pounded beef balls, salt-baked chicken, homemade glutinous-rice wine — and actually feel the rhythm of a village that, by 8pm, has mostly gone to bed (many tulou lock their doors around 20:00).

Budget the transport as a real cost. On both sides the clusters are scattered kilometres apart, public buses between them are sparse to non-existent, ordinary taxis are scarce, and ride apps like Didi mostly do not work in the villages. The sane approach is to base near the clusters and have your guesthouse arrange a car with driver for a half- or full-day loop — historically around ¥100–200 — who doubles as an impromptu guide. You are not allowed to rent or ride a motorbike yourself.

A note on prices. The long-published gate figures — Hongkeng around ¥90, Gaobei around ¥40, Chuxi around ¥55 on the Yongding side; Tianluokeng around ¥100 and Yunshuiyao around ¥90 on the Nanjing side, plus a roughly ¥15 in-park bus — are years old, dated, and gate-bought. None of these clusters has a clean official online-booking site we could verify; tickets are an on-site, passport-in-hand purchase, with OTAs as a fallback. Reconfirm every price at the gate, carry small cash for the in-park buses (no change given), and don't assume an English-language ticket counter exists.

Should I visit the Yongding or Nanjing tulou from Xiamen?

From Xiamen, Nanjing (Zhangzhou) is the easier and closer side — high-speed trains reach Nanjing County station in 30–60 minutes and the whole area is an hour and a half to two hours out. Go Nanjing if you want the spiral Tianluokeng "four dishes and a soup" shot or the willow-lined riverside village of Yunshuiyao. Go Yongding (Longyan) — about three hours by direct bus — if the giant round "King Tulou" Chengqi Lou is the image you came for. You can't comfortably do both in one day, so pick one side.

Are the Yongding and Nanjing tulou the same place?

No, and this is the most common mix-up. They are part of the same 2008 UNESCO "Fujian Tulou" listing, but they sit in two different counties in two different prefectures — Yongding in Longyan, Nanjing in Zhangzhou — reached by different roads and charging separate tickets. Yongding has the giant round earth buildings; Nanjing has the spiral cluster and the riverside village. They are a separate trip in a separate direction.

Can a foreigner buy tulou tickets, and is one ticket enough?

Yes — you buy at each cluster's gate with your passport as ID, though there is no easy English window, so have your accommodation help. But one ticket is not enough to roam: there is no single all-area pass, and each cluster charges its own separate entrance fee, so cluster-hopping means paying at every gate. The only bundle is the two-day combined Hongkeng-plus-Gaobei ticket on the Yongding side. All the long-quoted prices are dated, so reconfirm at the gate.

Can I sleep inside a tulou, and is it worth it?

Yes, and it is one of the best things to do on either side. The simplest tulou rooms are bare, sometimes with shared bathrooms outside the building, and many tulou lock up around 20:00; but a growing number of renovated guesthouses around Hongkeng/Hukeng (Yongding) and in Taxia or Tianluokeng (Nanjing) offer en-suite bathrooms, air-con and WiFi, broadly from around ¥80–100 a room. It beats a day trip, because you get the famous buildings to yourself early and late. Confirm your guesthouse can register a foreign passport before you pay, since not every village property can, and buy your cluster entry ticket before heading to your accommodation, as the tulou sit inside ticketed scenic areas.

How do I get around between the clusters once I'm there?

Not on your feet, and not by app. On both sides the clusters are scattered kilometres apart — Gaobei is about 4 km from Hongkeng and Chuxi 30–40 minutes further in Yongding; Tianluokeng, Yuanglou and Taxia are several kilometres apart in Nanjing — public buses are sparse, ordinary taxis are scarce, and Didi mostly doesn't function in the villages. Base yourself near the clusters and have your guesthouse arrange a car with driver for a half- or full-day loop, historically around ¥100–200, or take an organised day trip from Xiamen. You cannot rent or ride a motorbike yourself.

Which side has fewer crowds and more authentic tulou?

Both sides have the same pattern: the government showcase buildings fill with tour groups by mid-morning and are ringed with stalls, while the genuine, lived-in tulou are the smaller, quieter ones nearby. On the Yongding side, Chuxi is the least commercialised cluster; on the Nanjing side, Yunshuiyao is gentler and more strollable than the busy Tianluokeng viewpoint. Whichever side you pick, the trick is the same — go early or late, walk past the showcase building to the quiet ones, and remember people still live there.