Dabu Hua E Lou Building

Hua’e Lou (Calyx House), hidden in Lianfeng Village, Dadong Town, Dabu County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, was built in the Ming Dynasty, more than 410 years ago. Shaped like a calyx on the outside, it is a circular round house with Hakka characteristics, the largest, most beautifully designed and perfectly preserved ancient residential building among the earthen enclosures in Guangdong. It is a great place to travel and explore the history of Hakka.

Architectural Features

The architecture of Lianfeng Hua’e Building is borrowed from the architectural style of Beijing's courtyard houses. The whole Building is in the shape of eight trigrams, and the overall structure looks like a peeled orange, with a big outside and a small inside, and a double ring. 

The Building covers an area of 2,300 square meters, with a floor area of 2,286 square meters. It is a round building of adobe structure with three floors, distributed in a circular shape, with 30 rooms on the first floor, 60 rooms on the second floor and 120 rooms on the third floor, making a total of 210 rooms, and the height of the building is 11.9 meters. 

The first floor of the building does not have a window, the second and third floor wall with a small inside and outside the big triangular-shaped gunnel, the whole building has only one door for access, the door frame with thick and wide granite slate composition, the big door plate nailed to the thick iron, these doors and windows facilities are designed to resist the intrusion of outsiders. Inside the building, there is a circular patio with an area of 283.4 square meters, paved with cobblestones of varying sizes, and decorated in the center with a 3-meter-diameter pattern of ancient coins, which signifies people's wish to pray for plenty of food and clothing. There is an ancient well on one side of the patio for fire prevention and living purposes.

Visit Calyx House

Around the Calyx Building: Behind the Calyx Building is the Tiger-shaped Mountain and in front of it is the Meitan River with beautiful scenery. In front of the Calyx Building, there is a large square where several cars can be parked. There is a ticket office at the entrance of the square where visitors can buy tickets on the spot.

Big red couplets are pasted on both sides of the door of the first-floor house, and the three-storey-high enclosure opens hundreds of doors, with red lanterns hanging on the clumsy portals, which hold the unchanged wishes for family reunion and a better life for hundreds of years. The Tulou is made of large cobblestones as the foundation and small cobblestones paving the ground as smooth as ever. After entering inside the Calyx Building, you can go up to the second floor from a wooden staircase. The lighted patio above the doorway aisle is skillfully constructed. Inside, there is a small round plaza opposite the first-floor house dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy.

Walking up the wooden stairs to the second floor, you can see the circular tiled roof of the first-floor house. A number of large red lanterns are hung under the eaves, decorating this ancient and simple earthenware building.

If you want to see a more beautiful view, you have to go up to the third floor. There are wooden boards on the fence of the eaves for visitors to sit on and take photos. Various rooms also display various cultures of the Hakka people. However, it is important to note that one of the rooms on the third floor has a ladder opening without a fence, so you should be careful when visiting to prevent falling down. There is also the fact that the building is over 400 years old, so don't jump or chase, especially where there is no permission to climb out of the fence. 

If you visit this place during the Chinese New Year, you may also witness a grand blessing event. Every year on the third day of the first month, villagers will gather in Calyx House to celebrate and pray for blessings here. At that time, two rows of eight-immortal tables will be set up in the patio, loaded with chickens, ducks, wine, hair meets and fruits… Inside the Calyx House, colorful flags will be flown, incense and mist will surround the place, and amidst firecrackers, drums and gongs, people will collectively pray for everything to go well in the new year and for the well-being of all the families.

Visiting Information

Tickets: RMB 10/person 
Transportation: There are three routes to Meizhou: railroad, air and road. Meizhou Airport and Railway Station are located in Triangle Town, Meijiang District, Meizhou City. Lianfeng Village, Dadong Town, Dabu County, is 45 kilometers away from the county town, and you can choose to go there by chartered bus or taxi.