The traditional houses in China

THE TRADITIONAL HOUSES IN CHINA

China is the large country with the thousands years of national character still preserved today. In the area with different climate and terrain, Chinese architecture appears differently traditional house styles. These are 4 traditional houses in China.

Siheyuan

Siheyuan is the self-contained house with many generations in the family live together. Siheyuan consists of the houses that made from four rectangular houses, arranged into square to form the courtyard.
Siheyuan seperated from the outside, all windows open toward the courtyard. This is the good measure to cope with the sandstorm in Beijing.

When you look down, Siheyuan likes the big box made from 4 small boxes. When you view from the plane, it’s the squae.
The roof is designed overhang to shade the yard. The courtyard is planted many green trees to connect the space and make people feel comfortable.
Siheyuan is the typical work for Beijing architecture.

Tulou

Tulou are the giant houses of the people in Fujian, built from 12th – 19th century. The original purpose of construction was fighting the plunder and attack of the outside forces.
The Tulou was built in square or circle circular shape. The outer walls were made by mixing stone, bamboo, wood, beam,… thick nearly 2m. The gate of Tulou is the most important point, was reinforced with stone and iron.

Each Tulou has only one entrance and doesn’t have window. Tulou has 3-5 floors, the top floor is tile roof. In the middle of Tulou is the courtyard, this is the place to organzie community activities. Tulou accommodates up to 800 person.
The architecture of Tulou from the outside is quiet simple, but inside is designed and decorated complicatedly. Tulou has good earthquake resistance, the rooms in Tulou have good ventilation and enough light.

Despite of building by local materials with the simple technique, but Tulou is as strong as fortress, can protect people from the outside dangers.
In 2008, 46 Tulou were recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.

Yaodong

Yaodong are the cave houses, built from the earth taken from the hillside. A cave is usually 6-8 meters long, around 3 meters wide and around 3 meters high. Because of the thick cave wall, so the house can avoid the locally extreme climate.
Several neighboring rooms are connected by small tunnels.  In each province yaodong has their different shapes and size according to the geographic condition. These traditional dwellings have been regarded as an example of sustainable design.

Shikumen

Shikumen is the typically architectural style of the people in Shanghai.
Shikumen built from wood and brick material. The houses are relatively small and no more than 3 floors, built adjacently create the building blocks. You can identify easily Shikumen with the details on the door, the patterns that bring back the memories about Jazz eras of Shanghai