It may surprise you to know - China's largest folk residence is actually located ina small corner of Southeast China's Fujian Province. Taking a panoramic view of the residence, what may impress you most is its rigorous defence system and the Confucian culture embodied in every brick of the building.

Honglincuo, nestling in Bandong Village in Minqing County of Fujian Province, began construction in 1795, and finished 28 years later in 1823. The whole mansion covers an area of 17832.28 sq m, with 35 halls, 25 gardens, four wells, 13 major doors, and 666 rooms. The compound is basically symmetrical along its central line and was built by medicinal materials dealer Huang Zuobin during the Qianlong Reign of the Qing Dynasty.

Walking into the mansion, you can see each row of buildings is more spacious than the previous. Different generations live in different rows of the compound according to seniority, so the builder Huang Zuobin once lived in the third row. For many years Huang Zuobin was ill, so he named the compound after his oldest son Honglin rather than himself; the word cuo in the local language means house, hence the name, Honglincuo.

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