Fort-Like Dwelling and the Yard

Deqin is located in the river valley at the bottom of Taizi snow-mountain in the south of Yunnan Province. The mountain is so steep that the fort-like house has to broaden its area by deepen the depth, by which a special method of architecture was invented—building a two-story house, but only using the second floor. The height difference is the height of the first floor. Therefore, a two-story house actually is built in three floors. When it is built, the back wall is built along the mountain, and an earth rammer wall on ground mass is built in front, in which wooden pillars for load-bearing are installed within. On the bottom floor, yaks are herded among the wooden pillars. Besides, there would be a wooden stairs set heading to the second floor.
A hall, bedrooms, and a kitchen are set on the second floor, with glass windows in each room. A big cupboard crossing the room is installed in the hall, for placing tableware and artworks.
The scripture hall and bedrooms of lamas are arranged on the third floor. The roof will be used as a big platform for sun-drying, on which prayer flags and a place for burning aromatic plants will be placed at the corner.