Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Chuxi Tulou (Hakka houses) in Chuxi Village is the biggest and oldest (Ming Dynasty period) tulou cluster in the world. A tulou is a quake-proof fortified residential structure made with mud, bamboo, stone, and wood. It has a 2-meters thick wall, is sturdy, and suitable in any season. There are 36 tulous in the Chuxi Village and each tulou is built like two concentric rings. The outer ring is four-storied with 53 rooms on each floor. It has 72 staircases in total. The inner ring is just single-storied one with a large courtyard in the center that is shared by all the families of the clan.
