Red lanterns hang high

The Daoyun Building is located in Nanlian Village, Sanrao Town, Raoping County, Chaozhou City, and is the largest octagonal tulou. In 1477, the Huang family ancestors invited a feng shui master to choose a location to build the building. Initially, the geomancer chose this place, but then thought that perhaps the next place would be better. After surveying several places, they still felt this place was the best and returned here. The name Daoyun Building, which sounds like 'reversing fortune,' thus arose. The tulou was originally round, and after three constructions and three collapses, the feng shui master said that this place was a 'crab land,' which required the suppression of the eight legs of a crab with the Bagua, giving the building its unique octagonal shape. To the north of the building is Pen Rack Mountain, which is used to boost literary fortune, hence the building faces north. When the tulou was finally completed after three generations, it was the year 1587. In 1647, Huang Jin, a former Minister of Rites who resigned after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, inscribed its plaque. The tulou has a circumference of 328 meters, an inscribed circle diameter of 101.2 meters, a height of 11.5 meters, a wall thickness of 1.6 meters, and a total area of about 10,000 square meters. The octagonal shape corresponds to the eight trigrams of the I Ching; there are 16 skylights, 32 wells, 72 rooms, and 112 ladders, all multiples of eight; each unit has three entrances and three floors, corresponding to the three lines of the Bagua; the two central wells correspond to the two fish eyes of yin and yang in the Taiji. Due to the cluttered self-built houses and cramped surroundings, the exterior of China's largest octagonal tulou does not look spectacular. After paying a 15 yuan entrance fee and passing through the alleyway, the spacious courtyard suddenly appears, bright and open. The residents inside the building have completely moved out, and the exhibition has not yet been set up, leaving the building large and empty. On the third floor, there is a corridor that allows one to walk around the entire building. After queuing and squeezing onto the third floor, the impression of Daoyun Building is finally set: a colossal structure, where a 14mm wide-angle lens cannot fully capture the second ring of Daoyun Building. Daoyun Building has an atmosphere entirely different from those World Heritage tulous in Fujian, with mountains stretching out like a desk, clouds rolling and unfolding in the sky, completely free from the cramped feeling of other tulous, replaced by a sense of exhilaration and ease.