Culture & History for Adults Home » Chinese Books » About China » Culture & History for Adults

Over thousands of years, the Chinese ancients living in different places built very individualized residential housing.  From these rare buildings constructed at different ages and decorated with distinctive regional features, we can also recognize the well planned use of space as well as discern local tastes. The ancient architects used a lot of wood material to build spacious houses in groups. Their architectural thinking stems from life at first. The big, wide roof seen in places with notable seasonal variations is to maintain indoor temperature, the "horse's head" wall and parapet in the areas south of the Yangtze River are for the purpose of fire prevention and south China's rainy and sultry weather leads to the contruction of steep eaves, which are convenient to discharge rainwater while giving the dwellers a pleasantly cool feeling. This photo book illustrates the various styles of housing in 13 villages in Fujian, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Anhui, Inner Mogolia, Xinjiang, and Beijing. Each residence is introduced with colorful photos, an overview of architectural design and its cultural background in Chinese and English. A great book to learn about the traditional Chinese architecture and residences!