Swallows in the house

In Fuzhou, it is considered very good luck to have swallows living in one's house. If the swallows voluntarily choose to build a nest in your house, then your house must be pretty amazing! People put nails into one of the roof beams of the central halls of their houses in order to encourage the swallows to build their mud nests right there. When swallow guano accumulates beneath the nest, this is never cleaned or swept away: it serves as the best evidence that you have swallows happily living in your home. Here are a couple of pictures of swallows in the house (including a parent swallow feeding its babies):