Courtyard Houses of Yandu Ancient City
A while ago, I visited Yandu Ancient City in Yi County, Baoding. Since it’s built to 4A scenic area standards, I explored every corner of it. I’ve already detailed my experience in the first phase in a previous travelogue, so I won’t repeat it here. If you’re interested, you can look up that earlier piece. Today, I’ll show you the second phase of Yandu Ancient City. It’s not yet open to the public because construction isn’t complete. I only got in by chance—I wandered in while strolling along the Yi River.
The second phase differs architecturally from the first. The first phase has shops selling tourist goods, snacks, and local specialties, while the second phase is mostly made up of courtyard houses. When we hear 'courtyard house,' we immediately think of Beijing’s siheyuan. But even though we know the name, many of us aren’t quite sure what a courtyard house really is. So I looked up some information to appreciate it together with you. As usual, let’s start with a picture, and I’ll explain afterward. Courtyard Houses of Yandu Ancient City – this is a diagram of siheyuan types. Simply put, the number of gates you pass through tells you the number of courtyards. Now let’s look at the structure of a siheyuan. Courtyard houses of Yandu Ancient City. According to the earlier diagram, this layout represents a three-courtyard house.
China has distinct cultural differences between north and south, and courtyard houses also fall into two regional styles. Northern siheyuan are generally larger, extending in all four cardinal directions with the northern wing being the most honored. Southern courtyard houses tend to stretch in one direction and are smaller in scale. Northern styles emphasize tall, imposing buildings, often wooden structures with flush gable (hard mountain) or overhanging gable (suspended mountain) roofs being common. Southern courtyard houses are more often two-story, with the living room on the ground floor and bedrooms above. Materials vary—wood, bamboo, stone—and they frequently combine flush gable roofs with fire walls to prevent fires.
I won’t delve into the finer details of courtyard houses here—it’s a specialized academic subject that can’t be explained in just a few words. The Chinese have distilled their understanding of the world into tangible elements woven into every architectural detail. In short, this is a culture, a heritage, a form of expression, and a vessel of hope.
While wandering through the second phase, I saw many completed courtyard houses. Workers were painting colorful murals on doorways, eaves, pillars, beams, and carved brackets—all hand-painted, stroke by stroke. I’d assumed these were mass-produced, but it turns out they’re the work of skilled artisans, true artists on the construction site.
Courtyard houses of Yandu Ancient City
Courtyard houses of Yandu Ancient City
Courtyard houses of Yandu Ancient City
Courtyard houses of Yandu Ancient City
Courtyard houses of Yandu Ancient City
To watch these paintings, I stood for a long time under the scorching sun, watching flowers, birds, fish, insects, landscapes, and clouds take shape under the artisans' brushes. The delight and awe I felt were no different from watching a painter perform in a gallery—except few people are lucky enough to witness this. Who would have imagined that construction workers covered in dust could be such talented painters with artistry in their hearts? I didn’t step away until my clothes were soaked with sweat—partly because of the heat, and partly out of a sense of humility.
I shed the casual disdain I’d arrived with, and filled with reverence for traditional Chinese culture, I continued to wander through the second phase as if strolling through an art gallery. (To be continued)
