Foreboding and beautiful Xuan Villa was built in 1936 by a wealthy Malaysian-Chinese member of a secret society tied to Sun Yatsen. Parts of the building doubled up as an air-raid shelter. If the owners let you in, you’ll see crumbling but elegant staircases and sweeping balconies with views of tea fields.
Xuan Villa
Top choice in Guangdong
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
23.29 MILES
In the village of Gaobei (高北), this 300-year-old tǔlóu has 400 rooms and once housed 1000 inhabitants. It’s built with elaborate concentric rings, with…
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21.79 MILES
This most visited tǔlóu is a grandiose structure built in 1912, with two concentric circles and 222 rooms. The four storeys of the outer circle are…
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24.64 MILES
This delightful river settlement boasts several tǔlóu-converted guesthouses and it is a great base from which to explore the tǔlóu areas. The highlight of…
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23.97 MILES
The tallest roundhouse in Fujian, this vast five-floor structure has 270 rooms and an observation tower to check for marauding bandits. Interestingly this…
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28.3 MILES
Between the Héguì and Huáiyuǎn tǔlóu in the Yunshuiyao Tulou Cluster is this beautiful village (formerly known as ancient Chángjiào) where you can sip tea…
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28.1 MILES
This tallest rectangular tǔlóu in Fujian has five storeys and was built on a swamp. It boasts 120 rooms, a school, two wells, and a fortified courtyard in…
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19.92 MILES
This lesser-visited and commercialised four-storey tǔlóu rises up beautifully next to a river.
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24.62 MILES
The highlight of Tǎxià village, the Zhang Ancestral Hall, built in 1601, is surrounded by 23 elaborately carved spear-like stones, which celebrate the…
Nearby Guangdong attractions
1. Memorial Arch of the Father & Son Graduates
0.28 MILES
This handsome granite archway from 1610 stands before a school. The arch was set up by the Ming government to commemorate a father and son who were both…
2. Soviet Department Store Building
0.36 MILES
This weather-beaten, three-storey building just opposite Chayang Guesthouse (茶陽賓館, Cháyáng Bīnguăn) was a department store built in the 1950s with Soviet…
10.32 MILES
This is the ancestral home of the Burmese-Chinese businessman Aw Boon Haw, inventor of the medicinal salve Tiger Balm and owner of (in)famously quirky Haw…
10.38 MILES
The Tiger Balm magnate built three museums, in Singapore, Hong Kong and here, his birthplace. The photos and newspaper clippings of the founder's family…
11.58 MILES
This 600-year-old tǔlóu was built without using a single nail and is still pretty intact. It now houses an exhibition hall.
15.98 MILES
Lack of upkeep and old age (it dates from early 18th century) mean Qinan Villa looks a bit like a princeling-turned-pauper. The stone carvings around its…
15.98 MILES
Inhabited by the third and fourth generations of the founder, a pharmaceutical merchant, this balmy courtyard residence (c 1914) features stone, wood and…
15.99 MILES
An eye-catching, early-20th-century mansion, the Haiyuan Inn combines Southeast Asian features, Western details and the attributes of a hakka (走马楼; zǒumǎ…