Hutong Architecture TourMeet Unique Chinese Traditional Style of Architecture!

People living along with tradition,

Only in Hutong!

Simon Sohn (BISS)

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Siheyuan (Chinese Quadrangles)

“Siheyuan” is a historical type of residence. It’s a type of house that has a courtyard covered by four houses forming a square. This style of architecture was very common in the past. However, it became very rare nowadays as people demolished the place to build new buildings.

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Houses Revealing Social Status

As you can see in the photo above, some houses in hutong have circles on their gates. These circles on the gates imply the social status of the owner of the house. The more circles are there on the gate, the higher the social status do the owners have. It’s apparently an interesting fact that Chinese people use their houses to show their position.

3

Animal Statues

If you take a walk in hutong, you will find many animal statues sitting in front of the house entrances. Many non-Chinese may think that those statues are just for the decorations, but there is a different reason why Chinese people put them in front of their houses. Superstitious Chinese people believed that those animal-shaped statues would protect their houses from unfortunate things such as disease, thieves, accidents and so on. That is why the animal statues often look very scary.

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Hutong Map

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