WHEN 46 of China's Fujian earthen buildings, or tulou, were added to Unesco's World Heritage List on Sunday, photographer Qu Liming could not be happier - it was something the 51-year-old had been passionately advocating for years.
The World Heritage List is a programme which names and conserves sites that are considered of exceptional cultural or natural importance.
The Chinese photographer, who is vice-president of Haichao Photography and Arts Press in Fuzhou City in Fujian province, has produced more than 10 picture books of China's old buildings, with two more to be published at the end of the year.
His 2006 publication, Hakka Earthen Buildings In China, is filled with about 400 photographs of such buildings in Fujian, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces taken over three years.
The earliest earthen buildings in China were built by the Hakka people about 1,200 years ago, during the Tang dynasty. The ones that remain today were built from the Qing dynasty until the 1970s.
Over at Rong De House, a small Hakka home in
Songyuan, Meixian County, people cook their
meals in an open-air kitchen.
The total number of Hakka earthen buildings in China number in the thousands, and Fujian province alone has approximately 3,000 of them.
Qu, who is married to an ex-television presenter from Fujian Television and has a 15-year-old daughter studying in high school, started taking pictures of China's old dwellings in 2002 and later focused on earthen buildings.
A different angle: Not all tulou are round.
The Shu De House in Shizai Village,
Jiaoling County, is rectangular in shape.
'My interest lies in taking photographs (of buildings) that represent China's rich traditions and culture,' he tells Life! over the telephone. 'All these buildings are disappearing and many have become derelict.
'There are also no craftsmen with the skills to build such houses now, so we have a responsibility to remember the beauty of these intricately designed earthen buildings.'
Life withing the walls: Children at Swallow's Wing
Enclosed Fortress in Yangchun, Longnan County,
in southern Jiangxi province take time out for a picture.
The Hakka people in the past used simple tools such as pestles and gavels to shape earth, sand, stones, lime and bamboo pulp together into their earthen dwellings, which could be in circular or rectangular shapes.
The unusual circular shape is believed to be based on feng shui principles to allow energy and prosperity to flow through all corners of the house.
Many of these earthen dwellings are also classified as enclosed fortresses, which were built to withstand enemy invasions.
Plenty of neighbours: Located in Shuangfeng Village
in Nanjing County, this castle built in the 1970s
is home to more than a hundred people.
The surrounding outer walls are more than 2m thick, and the fourth storey of each house served as a passageway to guard against attacks.
Qu often stayed in such buildings for two to three days at a time to take his pictures.
'In a tulou, you cannot keep secrets,' he reveals. 'If you're up to something at night, everyone will know.'
Living conditions are not very hygienic.
Every night, a large potty is placed outside the door of each home and removed only the next morning.
Residents bathe in nearby streams and lakes, and there is a communal well in every tulou.
Despite the lack of amenities, Qu admires the quiet, simple lives the Hakka people lead.
'I abhor the hustle and bustle of living in the city. Every time I'm there, I want to run back to the countryside immediately,' he says with gusto.
He owns a few houses on the hillsides in Fujian province where he can retreat from city life.
'Nowadays, every city looks the same no matter where you go, be it Japan or the United States, because they all have tall, modern buildings,' he adds.
'If we don't take photographs of these earthen buildings, we will forget they ever existed. People need to have a chance to experience China's rich heritage and see it for themselves.'
Hakka Earthen Buildings In China ($75) is available at Basheer Graphic Books, 04-19 Bras Basah Complex, Block 231 Bain Street.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on July 12, 2008.
