Beijing - Beijing - page 467

TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE
The oldest standing structure in the Běijīng municipality is the Great Wall. Although the
wall dates from the 3rd century BC, most of what you will see is the work of Ming-dynasty
(1368-1644) engineers, while the tourist sections have largely been rebuilt over the past 30
years or so.
In fact, while Běijīng as we know it today dates back to the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368),
nearly all traditional architecture in the capital is a legacy of the Ming and Qing dynasties
(1368-1911), although most Ming-era buildings were rebuilt during the Qing dynasty. A
few fitful fragments have somehow struggled through from the Mongol era, but they are
rare.
Standout structures from early dynasties include the magnificent Forbidden City (the
largest architectural complex in China at 72 hectares), the Summer Palace, and the remain-
ing hútòng and courtyard-style homes in the centre of the city. There are also fine examples
of older temple architecture at the Temple of Heaven Park and Běihǎi Park.
Most historic buildings, however, date from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and the latter
part of the Manchu dynasty. Little survives from the Ming dynasty, although the conceptual
plan of the city dates from Ming times. Old buildings were constructed with wood and pa-
per, so fire was a perennial hazard (spot the huge bronze water vats dotted around the For-
bidden City for extinguishing flames that could rapidly reduce halls to smoking mounds).
Because buildings were not durable, even those that escaped fire were not expected to last
long.
To see how the Ming and Qing dynasties built Běijīng visit the Běijīng Ancient Architecture
Museum, which has a great scale model of the old imperial city and shows how the courtyard
houses of the hútòng were constructed.
Home Sweet Home
Most residences in old Běijīng were once sìhéyuàn ( CLICK HERE ), houses situated on four
sides of a courtyard. The houses were aligned exactly - the northern house was directly op-
posite the southern, the eastern directly across from the western. Sìhéyuàn can still be
found within the Second Ring Rd, and although many have disappeared, an increasing
number have been transformed into hotels.
Traditionally, the Chinese followed a basic ground plan when they built their homes. In
upper-class homes as well as in palaces and temples, buildings were surrounded by an ex-