Five-Phoenix Buildings (Wu Feng Lou) are the most representative of Hakka traditional Zhongyuan (Central China) culture as it is built according to Central China imperial court pattern. Five-Phoenix Building has the following characteristics: It has a central axis with central hall, at least one upper and one lower halls; left-right symmetrical rooms (houses); in front of the house, it has a large field and pond; the front houses are lower and the back houses are higher from ground level.

There are about over 2,000 Five-Phoenix buildings in Shanghang County in western Fujian, over 1,000 buildings in each of other counties in western Fujian: Yongding, Wuping, Ninghua, Liancheng and Changting. Across Guangdong Province, there are altogether more than 10,000 Five Phoenix Buildings, with majority in Eastern Guangdong. All together, it is estimated that there are 20,000 Five Phoenix Buildings, more than 4 times the Round Earth Building.

Five Phoenix represent five different types of "birds" in five different colors: Pink, Yellow, Green, Purple, and White. It also represent the North, East, South, West and Central section, thus the name Five-Phoenix.

There are variations based on the pattern indicated above: three-hall pattern, two-hall and one side-room pattern, three-hall and two side-room pattern, three-hall and two side-room plus the "curl-back dragon" (Wei Long) in the back, nine hall and two cross pattern etc. all based on the central axis.

The largest is the nine-hall type. In the same central axis, it is composed of three Five-Phoenix Buildings, usually for the clans that have about 500-700 years of settlement history in the area. The last Five-Phoenix Building is called the Back Building (Hou Lou), the three central halls in the central axis are called Upper, Central and Lower Room (Ting). There is a field or open courtyard between the last Five-Phoenix Building (Hou Lou) and the second Five-Phoenix Building which is overall about one step lower in level than the Hou Lou. This second Five-Phoenix Building is called Central Tang and then across another field or open courtyard, yet another step lower in level, is the Lower Tang. Thus we have three independent Five-Phoenix Buildings, yet on the same axis line, it has three levels of ground height, nine halls (three in each building), aligned in the same axis line.

The most popular variation is the pattern of three central structures and two side-rooms. The back tang and left-right rooms are usually of two-story. In front of the building is a semicircular pond, the diameter side of the pond is in parallel with the front building. Between the pond and the building is a field.

Entering the front door, you are in the Lower Ting. The Lower Ting is of rectangular shape where the depth is much shorter than the width. On the left and right of Lower Ting there is one room each, the doors of the rooms open to face the lower Ting. Between the Lower Ting and the Central Ting Tang is an open courtyard. There are also left and right smaller Tings between the Lower Ting and Central Ting. Thus the four Tings shares the same open courtyard and each Ting could see the other three Tings. You have four independent Tings of different sizes and yet still form an integrated structure with one another. Each Ting is used for different purpose.

As one enters Central Ting from Lower Ting, after passing through two smaller Side Tings, one step up half a step to show it is at higher level.

The depth of the Central Ting Tang is about twice the depth of Lower Ting, thus Central Ting Tang is quite a bit larger than the Lower Ting. In the Upper Ting, there are two levels. All the rooms window open to the hallways or open courtyard, facing the central axis line.

The Five-Phoenix Building is usually built facing a river and on a slope. At the back of the building, there is usually a vegetable garden. The front pond is used for washing, irrigating the garden, and for aquaculture. The roof is usually made of Green "Wa" (roof tiles), and the walls tend to be in white colors.

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