Xi Guan Residences, Miniatures of Traditional Cantonese Architecture

 
Main door of a typical Guangzhou Xi Guan residence. (Lifeofguangzhou.com)

The commonly-seen Xi Guan style (old Guangzhou) residences in Guangzhou's Liwan District are miniatures of traditional Cantonese architecture.

The facade of a Xi Guan house was generally built with grey bricks, and the main wooden door is accompanied by a Tanglong (horizontal wooden bars) and a pair of 'café style' outer doors at the entrance. The interior is very symmetrically structured; from the front to the back of the house there are as follows: the portal, the hallway, the main hall, the first room, the second hall and the back room. There is also a patio and garden inside.

Hardwood furniture, carved wooden ornaments, stained glass Manchu style windows, and many other Cantonese features come together to create an old Guangzhou style house. In the past, only the well-to-do families of businessmen or officials could live in these grand and magnificent places.

 
Large window of a Guangzhou Xi Guan residence. (Lifeofguangzhou.com)

 
A Cantonese "villa" in the traditional Guangzhou Liwan District. (Lifeofguangzhou.com)

 
Stained glass window is the typical element of the traditional Guangzhou Xi Guan residences. (Lifeofguangzhou.com)

(by Carrot Chan, Stephen Roach)

Source: Lifeofguangzhou.com

Editor: Chen Minjie