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Yan'an / Fujian
China: Loess plateau & Fujian
Continental extremes north, humid subtropics south.
CompositeWarm & humidCold
Two Chinese answers to two Chinas: on the Loess plateau, millions live in earth-sheltered yaodong held at the ground's steady temperature; in Fujian, Hakka clans raised rammed-earth ring fortresses whose metre-thick walls flatten both summer and winter.
Born here · 2 techniques
YaodongEarth-sheltered cave dwellingChina's Loess Plateau (Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu, Henan)
Homes excavated into thick loess hillsides; 0.5 to 2m of earth has very low conductivity and huge thermal inertia, damping the outside swing so int…
Store & slow heatColdComposite
TulouMass + collective resilienceFujian, China (Hakka)
A multi-storey rammed-earth ring around a central court, thick walls give thermal buffering and structural robustness, housing a whole clan as a se…
ResilienceWarm & humid