Huaiyuan Lou is a tulou in Nanjing County, the name meaning something like a house that cherishes distant things, and it sits in a valley of tea terraces and bamboo in the same group of earthen buildings as its better-known neighbours. The lou form, a tall rectangular or square block of several storeys, differs from the round tulou, and the dwellings of this type are often built on a regular grid with the main hall facing south, as the principles of fengshui required. The orientation, the position of the gate and the placement of the well and the ancestral hall were all weighed by a geomancer before the first wall was raised.
Even without exact detail on the building, its setting is typical and worth describing. The earth for the walls was dug from the nearby hillside, then mixed with sand, lime and sometimes rice straw, and pounded into wooden forms by teams of men singing to keep the rhythm. A wall might rise a metre at a time, and then be left to dry before the next layer, so that building a large house took years. Eaves were made wide to protect the base from rain, and the roof timbers were fitted without nails. Residents still use many of the houses, and a few have shops on the ground floor selling tea, dried mushrooms and handmade paper.
The roads to the area wind through hills with short climbs and sharp bends, passing farms, fruit orchards and sections of old stone paving. Wet weather makes the surface slick, mist fills the valleys in the morning, and heavy rain can cause slides on the steeper slopes. The best seasons are autumn and early spring. The air smells of damp earth, wood smoke and tea, and in the evening the lamps in the courtyards glow warm behind the wooden galleries.
Foreign riders should be aware that bringing and riding a motorcycle in China normally needs special permits and a Chinese licence, which is why most visitors travel by other means. Try the local tea, brewed strong in small cups, and ask permission before entering a courtyard.