Jimmy Lin and his son Kimi. [Photo/ Longyan Tourism Bureau]

Jimmy Lin and Kimi in Nanxi Hakka Building. [Photo/ Longyan Tourism Bureau]

Yanxiang Lou. [Photo/Longyan Tourism Bureau]

Nanxi Hakka Building scenic area. [Photo/ Longyan Tourism Bureau]

A classic site in the city of Longyan, Fujian province, got a visit from Jimmy Lin, a famous singer, actor and professional race car driver, on Nov.26, along with his son Kimi, who was there to make a TV commercial, and wanted to shoot it in the Nanxi Hakka Building scenic area, in the Yanxiang Lou (building), which dates back to the 1880s. This was the same location used by the director Jiang Wen for the film “Gone With The Bullets”, so this the Hakka building a second chance to show itself to the world. The term Nanxi Hakka Building is used for a part of Nanxi Valley, Yongding county, which contains a large number of Hakka buildings and is known for its striking visual effect.

Its Yanxiang Lou is on the World Heritage site list and is characteristic of this particular rural dwelling of the Hakka people in mountainous parts in southeastern Fujian, built between the 12th and the 20th centuries. It is a large, enclosed fortress-like rectangular or circular structure with 6-foot thick walls of rammed earth mixed with stone, bamboo, wood and other readily available materials. Branches, strips of wood and bamboo chips are often laid in the wall for reinforcement. The result is a well-lit, well-ventilated, wind-proof, earthquake-proof building 3 - 5 stories high that is warm in winter and cool in summer and can house up to 80 families. The buildings usually have only one main gate, guarded by 4–5-inch-thick wooden doors reinforced with an outer iron plate. The top level of these earth buildings has gun holes for defensive purposes. There can also be smaller interior structures inside the walls that can hold halls, storehouses, wells and living areas, in the manner of a small fortified city.

There are 46 Fujian Hakka Building sites -- including the Chuxi group, Tianluokeng cluster, Hekeng cluster, Gaobei cluster, Dadi cluster, Hongkeng cluster, Yangxian Lou, Huiyuan Lou, Zhengfu Lou and Hegui Lou -- recognized in 2008 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as World Heritage Sites and "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".