Tianlong Tunpu

The tunpu (village fortress) in Anshun, Guizhou, was built in the Ming Dynasty (600 years ago) for military use. During the early period of Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhuyuanzhang sent Han national troops from the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River to Anshun. The garrison forces is ancestors of the inhabitants of the "Tunpu" who built stone-structured villages and turned the neighbourhood into farmland, grew crops. In those days, soldiers spent most of their days working as farmers. It was only in times of war that they were called to unify and repel an enemy. Today, it still retains its original style and pace of life.

Tianlong Tunpu is one of such village fortresses. It is located at Pingba County of Anshun, 72 kilometers from the capital city of Guizhou province Guiyang, where a twenty-minute drive from the downtown of Anshun will take you to. It occupies a strategic position, guarding what was once an important passage to Yunnan Province. Therefore, Emperor Zhuyangzhang of Ming Dynasty attached much importance to it and send large amount of troops to garrison it.

It is named “Tianlong” after the combination of the names of the two mountain ranges Tiantai Mountain and Longyang Mountain surrounding it. Despite the changing of dynasties and the passage of hundreds of years, residents of Tianlong Tunpu still live in forts and keep a simple and peculiar army style, retaining their traditional Ming lifestyles, clothing and hair styles. They are a distinct branch of Han Ethnic people, called Tunpu people.

Also interesting, it is a world of stone: Stone foundations, stone walls, flagstone roofs, stone watchtowers, stone wall crenels, stone crocks and even stone dog holes.