Chinese Missile Sites or Mud Houses

In 1986, American spy satellites under President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative hovering above the mountains of southeast China's Fujian Province spotted large, circular-shaped buildings suspected to be nuclear missile silos. The CIA sent spies to investigate these mysterious buildings only to find out that they were actually ancient buildings made largely of mud.

A view of a Tulou cluster from the top of a nearby mountain

The buildings are called Tulou (土楼) which literally means earth buildings (土earth + 楼 building). Tulous are large, circular-shaped (or sometimes rectangular) buildings built largely of compacted earth (or mud). Actually, the compacted earth was mixed with stone and other materials (sometimes even including sticky rice) and reinforced with bamboo poles to form walls up to 6 feet thick. A tulou is usually 3-5 stories high and many can house around 80 families. Tulous were truly a form of communal living, with many families within a clan banding together for defense as well as economic and social purposes.

A view from inside a Tulou

In more recent history, traditional Tulou communal living has faced serious challenges as younger family members generally prefer to move to nearby cities in pursuit of higher-paying employment and more modern lifestyles. Some of the tulou communities have adapted by becoming tourist destinations and converting part of their residences into hotel rooms. I recently traveled to Nanjing County, about a 3-4 hour drive from Xiamen, to go on a Tulou tour, staying overnight in one of these Tulou turned hotels.

Me on a bridge in front of a 700 year old Tulou

Many of the tulous were built by Hakka Chinese (客家 kejia; literally meaning guest families). Hakkas are part of the Han Chinese majority ethnic group, but migrated from north to south China over the centuries. They often encountered resistance from local inhabitants of the areas they migrated to, including Minnan people who also sometimes lived in tulous.

This is the King Tulou since its the biggest (and the most touristy and commercialized)

I have lots more photos posted here and if you'd like to find out more about the famous Fujian tulous, CCTV produced a series of videos about them called Secrets of the Fujian Tulou which can be viewed online.