Most Tulou have 3 to 5 stories. Bottom level kitchen, 2nd level for storage and 3rd and above for living. Our bedroom was on the 4th floor – no elevator. Since so many of the young are leaving for the big cities most of the tulous have a lot of vacant rooms. Generally it is the responsibility of the eldest son to take care of the tutou. In the ones we toured we saw mostly grandparents and the pre-school aged children living there. (Remember the grandparents take care of the young while the parents work in the city). When tulou clan living was common there could be as many as 300-600 people living in one. One of the larger tulous had 288 rooms. I asked if the children have their own rooms and was told that when the child was old enough (4 or 5) the boy child would move into the bedroom with his grandfather.
The one pictured above is one of the larger ones with 4 additional inner rings and 4 stories. We had a great tour guide who was head of the clan that told us about his tulou and its history.
