by Xinhua writer Wu Yilong
FUZHOU, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Lin Rigeng brims with pride every time he tells visitors the stories of his house.
"I never get tired of it. Actually, I enjoy it," he said.
The four-story clay building Lin, 66, shares with 77 others covers an area of 5,000 square meters, or nearly three quarters of a football field. It was built a century ago by his grandfather's brothers.
These buildings are known as "tulou," which means "building made of earth" in Chinese. In July 2008, tulou were inscribed on the UNESCO's World Heritage List as a unique residential architecture of east China's Fujian Province.
Lin's house in Hongkeng Village was among the 46 representative tulou presented to the World Heritage Committee.
"My house belongs to the world. I want everyone to learn about it," said Lin.
MAGIC FORTRESS
Tulou can take many forms, including rings, triangles, squares, rectangles, and pentagons. Lin's home is one of the most common ring-shaped tulou.
It is believed that the first tulou were built in the 11th century by people who escaped the wars in central China. This is one explanation for why tulou have an extremely thick outer wall. The wall around Lin's home is 1.3 meters thick.
Tulou functioned as a fortress to protect residents from invaders and wild animals.
There are more than 20,000 tulou in Yongding County, about two and a half hours drive from Xiamen which recently hosted the ninth BRICS summit.
The oldest existing tulou in the county was built 600 years ago. The largest has 384 rooms and can accommodate at least 800 people.
Lin's house was named Zhencheng Lou by his grandfather. It has 208 rooms arranged according to the bagua, an eight-point diagram that determines the auspicious locations for various functions to balance the energy within the house.
Fifteen families live in the building and all are involved in tourism-related businesses, including tour guiding, running homestays, selling farm produce such as tea, mushrooms, dried vegetables and persimmons, and souvenirs including tulou models and books.
"We are richer. Our life is better, so is our living environment," said Lin, when talking about changes that tourists have brought for his family.
According to Yongding County records, a model of Zhencheng Lou was on display at an international architectural model expo held in Los Angeles since the 1980s.
Locals tell a story that tulou, especially the ring-shaped ones, were spotted by U.S. satellites and mistaken for missile silos or nuclear devices during the Cold War.
"In my opinion, that tale originally helped attract international attention to tulou," Lin said.
LIFE AND FUTURE
Lin is the son of a farmer and his name means "plowing everyday."
He was born in Zhencheng Lou, and could not be a more hospitable host. Back in the 1980s, when few people knew about the buildings, he began voluntarily guiding visitors, treating them with home-grown tea, food and wine, and telling them the history of the buildings.
"The moment they entered Zhencheng Lou, they were simultaneously shocked and excited. They could not imagine how people could build such a large house to accommodate a whole clan," Lin said, "Only then did I realize my house was such a treasure."
In 1991, Lin became the first tulou tour guide hired by Yongding County Tourism Administration.
He said he learned even more about his own home from early visitors, many of whom were architects or fans of historical buildings.
Despite having only a primary school education, Lin has written a book on tulou.
As a tour guide, he leads around 300 groups of visitors each year. He also runs a souvenir shop and a homestay with 10 beds.
Four years ago, his eldest son Lin Shangkang, 43, quit his job as a biology teacher at a local high school to help the family business.
However, Lin has one problem -- he doesn't speak English.
Over the years, thousands of people from more than 30 countries and regions have visited his house. It's hard for him to describe the beauty of tulou vividly without speaking a second language.
The recent BRICS summit is expected to bring more international visitors to the county.
"I love to talk with international visitors from all walks of life," said Lin, "I can learn about the outside world from inside my old house."
