Strange looking multi-function buildings

There are many different types of earth buildings in the Hakka area. While the most common are round or square, others are rectangular, D-shaped, semi-circular or in the shape of horseshoes, umbrellas, windmills, or Ba Gua (an eight-sided diagram derived from the I-Ching - the Chinese book of divination. Each side represents a different aspect of life such as wealth, career, and marriage).

The earth buildings are usually three to five stories high. Inside the entrance is a huge central courtyard onto which all the doors of the rooms and inner windows open.

The buildings are used for a variety of purposes - for public activities, as ancestral temples and for residential dwelling. The rooms on the ground floor are used as kitchens and dining rooms, those on the second floor are for storage, and third floor rooms are used as bedrooms. The rooms on each floor are identical with an open round hallway in front of the rooms. Each floor usually has four staircases and a typical room is about 10 - 13 sq m, with larger rooms around 15 sq m.

 Hundreds of people share communal houses

The earth buildings are group-oriented residences with dozens or even hundreds of rooms. Two thirds of the houses are used to accommodate roughly 20 families or a clan of hundreds of family members and each family occupies one vertical unit. Some buildings don't have an open round hallway; instead each family has its own private staircase.

The earth buildings are made of earth, stone, bamboo and wood, all readily available materials. After constructing the walls with rammed earth; branches, strips of wood and bamboo chips are laid in the wall as "bones" to reinforce it. The result is a well-lit, well-ventilated, windproof, and quakeproof building that is warm in winter and cool in summer.

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