Recently went to Tu Lou sites in Yongding County and elsewhere in a more rural setting.

These buildings are certainly interesting, though to a certain extent it's a case of 'seen one, seen them all'. Only to a certain extent, however, and as long you choose buildings in different areas (rural v town edge, for example, or different styles (Hakka v Fujian), then they remain of interest.

For me, however, the big downside was the sale of cheap tourist souvenirs and other stuff everywhere. Every unit on the ground floors of most of the tulou we visited was flogging this stuff, and the internal courtyard was marred by large, brightly coloured umbrellas, there to keep the sun off the stallholders.

In addition, although tea is offered 'free' to drink, you are pushed to buy. That's fine, but there appears to be a lot of cheating going on via bait and switch. The tea you drink is nice, but the tea you buy is not. I found this particularly distasteful in a World Heritage Site.

I would suggest that consideration is given to ways of taking the sale of souvenirs out of the tulou in order to retain an element of their original feel and splendour. At present, they are marred.