Tulou, or earthen houses, are widely scattered in Yongding and Nanjing counties, Fujian province. Set amidst rice, tea and tobacco fields, the tulou feature tall fortified mud walls capped by tiled roofs with wide over-hanging eaves.

A total of 46 Fujian tulou sites were inscribed in 2008 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, and as "exceptional examples of a building tradition and function exemplifying a particular type of communal living and defensive organization [in a] harmonious relationship with their environment".