Erqilou is not a building, but the name of a village, all the houses of which are built of stones.
Located in Daolang Town, Daiyue District, Taian City, Shandong Province, this village has a landmark building which is a two-storey stone building, the first thing to see when you enter the village.
More peculiar is that there is a stone sculpture in the middle of the building top, which is considered to be the totem of worship of reproduction, symbolizing multiplying descendants.
About this stone sculpture there is a convention passing on from generation to generation in the village: No one can touch the stone, otherwise a great calamity is at hand. Therefore, during the Cultural Revolution, the village and the stone sculpture on the building top were spared, without being destroyed.
Called Stone village, it is really worthy of the name. You can see stone roads, stone houses, stone mills, stone rollers, and stone cellars.
During the Cultural Revolution, some people thought that the village name was unlucky: The Chinese character (奇) “odd” meaning “strange”(怪), which is not auspicious to the development of the village, so renamed “二起楼村” (Erqilou Village).
Last year, with the development of the tourism industry, the government restored the name of “二奇楼村”(Erqilou Village) on the basis of local conditions and customs.
About the origin of the village:
According to historical documents, in the middle of Qing Dynasty, a family of Xiao moved here for refuge. Two brothers grazed cattle for other people. To prevent wild animals from attacking, they built such a two-storey building, where they lived above and the cattle were kept below.
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