Residents of Dongcheng Lou sit at the entrance of the building.

Protecting the past

To keep his tulou in prime condition, Lin Qinsheng, the owner of Fuyu Lou, has rented out rooms for the past eight years, charging 500 yuan a month for each room.

"The tulou can survive hundreds of years if people live in them," he said. "Otherwise, they are quickly ruined by insects and lack of maintenance."

Protection is always on the top of the agenda for local governments trying to develop the potential of these astonishing structures.

"To protect the tulou properly we founded the first county-level cultural relics bureau in Fujian to improve the protection work and draw up a five-year maintenance plan," said Mao Gaoliang, Party secretary of Yongding county.

No buildings can be constructed on a site once it has gained world heritage status, so the county has bought a series of facilities outside the village and offers lower rents to encourage local people to move their businesses out of the heritage site.

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Getting in on the act

Lin Rigeng is the best-known guide in Yongding and has seen great benefits from tulou-based tourism. The increasing importance of Zhencheng Lou has given him plenty of chances to act as a guide for government officials, foreign dignitaries, and famous actors and singers, as evidenced by the photos that cover almost half a wall of one of his rooms.

"Without tourism, my family wouldn't have such a good life and the young people wouldn't return. Even my son quit his job as a teacher and brought his family back to help me manage the business," he said. "I am a third-generation tulou owner and I'm protecting our heritage so that more people will have the chance to see the architectural treasures of the Hakka people."

Sun Li contributed to this story.

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