Beijing Siheyuan

Siheyuan is one kind of traditional courtyard building. Its layout is one courtyard in the middle while rooms around the courtyard. Since the building is square shape with four sides, it is called Siheyuan. This building has at least 3000-year history, and it has many kinds of shapes in all over China, while Beijing Siheyuan is the typical.

Siheyuan usually is lived by one big family. It has one closed courtyard, which can keep private from the outside. Its layout reflects Chinese traditional the thought of honorable and humble and class. But nowadays, with the changing of family structure and social idea, some old Siheyuan have been torn down, while some has been protected by culture relic protection site.

Siheyuan consists of Gate, wall screen, courtyard, east side-room, corner room, etc. All the roofs are installed with grey clay roof tiles, while the walls are made of grey clay bricks. The grey color reflects the simple style of this kind of building.