In the mountains of western Fujian the villages are shaped like fortresses, and Chuxi is one of the classic examples. The tulou, or earthen buildings, here are huge rammed-earth rings and squares up to several storeys high, built by Hakka families over the centuries so that a whole clan could live, store grain and defend itself behind one thick wall. The Chuxi cluster, in the Yongding district, is part of the Fujian Tulou World Heritage group, and the buildings sit among terraced fields, bamboo and tea bushes in a valley that is green nearly all year.
Riding here means small mountain roads, narrow and often steep, with sudden bends where a lane squeezes between a stream and a wall of rice terrace. Surfaces are generally paved but patched, and the traffic is a mixture of scooters, small trucks and tourist minibuses, so keep a steady pace and expect the unexpected around blind corners. It is humid country. Mist hangs in the valleys on spring mornings, and summer can bring heavy rain, so waterproofs are worth carrying. Autumn is clearer and cooler, and a good time for photography.
The tulou are the point. Their outer walls can be more than a metre thick and are made of earth mixed with sand, lime and sometimes glutinous rice, then pounded layer by layer. Inside, ring after ring of wooden galleries open around a central courtyard, with a shared well, an ancestral hall and small rooms for each family. Some are still lived in, with washing hanging from the balconies and old men playing cards under the eaves, while others have been turned over to tea sellers and guesthouses. The round ones are the best known, though the square and even oval forms are just as interesting. Try the local Hakka dishes, such as stewed pork, preserved vegetables and tofu stuffed with meat, along with tea grown on the surrounding slopes.
The villages are small, and the county towns of the region are the places to find fuel stations, so fill up before heading into the hills. Carry cash, since small shops may not take foreign cards, and check the weather before a long day, because the rural roads in the rain are a different thing altogether.