Old Villa Style Houses in Dongshan Residential Community

While the sidewalk-hugging Qilou houses are a prominent feature of Lingnan architecture in wet and sunny Guangzhou, the many European 'villa' style houses concentrated in the Dongshan area are also typical buildings in the city.

Various 'villa' houses are concentrated on Xin He Pu Lu (新河浦路) and Xu Gu Yuan Lu (恤孤院路).

They are roughly divided into two types - courtyard villas and apartment villas - depending on their architectural layouts. Steeped in the Western style, these two or three story houses are often painted bright red and yellow and have columned porches.

A villa with columned porches



A villa renovated into a café

The villas are mostly owned by the descendents of overseas Chinese celebrities, including many military officers and government officials, who built the houses in the 1920-30s. Nowadays, the villas often attract hopeful entrepreneurs keen to open luxurious bars and cafés.

(By Jessie Hwang, Stephen Roach)

Source: Lifeofguangzhou.com

Editor: Jessie Hwang