UNIQUE STRUCTURE: Decorative lanterns hang from courtyard balconies inside the tulou's inner ring (JOSEPH HALVORSON)

The UNESCO announcement spurred a reverse migration as some young people who had moved to the city for menial work returned home to become tour guides, open restaurants or sell local goods at commercial stalls.

Li Rigeng, 62, grew up in the tulou and intends to stay permanently. When President Hu Jintao visited during Spring Festival in 2010, it was Li who greeted him—an event well documented in photographs mounted on the tulou's inner walls and described in an animated retelling over a cup of black tea.

"I feel content living here," said Li, who wrote a book about his life in the community despite only finishing primary school. The pure air, clean water, and quiet of the countryside offer an appealing alternative to city life, he said, especially now that business opportunities are on the rise.

Li was one of the first local entrepreneurs to develop a tourism infrastructure in the village, opening restaurants, hotels and a tour guide service. His eldest son left a teaching position at a city school to join the family business. A younger son works in Hong Kong at a bank.

Tapping the tulou

In the 1990s, new road construction surrounding Yongding allowed villagers to join the country's mass urbanization, where construction labor paid more than the modest earnings of a tea or tobacco farmer.

A new tourist center constructed in the style of a tulou cost 80 million yuan ($12.5 million) to build, an indication of the government's commitment to developing the area as a top attraction for tourists seeking to experience Chinese heritage outside of the bigger cities. Repairs and renovations are also paid for by the government.

In 2009, Fujian officials announced a 5.6-billion-yuan ($800 million) investment in a highway project to expand accessibility to the area and increase tourism. In 2010, the number of visitors reached 1 million, compared to 700,000 in 2009 and 300,000 in 2008. Officials hope to bring in 2 million tourists this year.

You Ruifang is a tour guide who lives 10 km away from the tourist center in a small tulou that is home to eight families. She spoke of the community spirit in the house, where families often eat together—a tradition rarely seen in today's urban high-rise apartments.

She spent five years working in the export business in Xiamen, but came back to join her former friends and classmates in the tourism boom. The best part of living in a tulou, she said, is that "it stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter," made possible by the air circulation of its open-air design.

Despite the return of some former residents, most of the inhabitants include the elderly and the very young. Between the ages of 16 to 18, the majority of people are said to move away in search of work or study. After generations of families living under one roof, the question remains as to how long the clans will last in their current form.

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