A closer look at language, places and everyday life in China.
People’s Architecture Office offers a documented example in Beijing’s Dashilar area: the Courtyard House Plugin programme, developed in 2013–2015. Instead…
Read the storyInterlocking timber brackets can look decorative while doing serious structural work.
Read the storyGuangzhou's covered arcade streets give a shopfront and a walking route the same roof.
Read the storyChengde's Mountain Resort was a place to stay, but also a place to rule.
Read the storyGulangyu's varied buildings record international contact, including an unequal treaty-port history.
Read the storyKaiping's towers tell a story about protection and families whose lives crossed oceans.
Read the storyWooden arch bridges in south-east China use joined timbers and knowledge passed between makers. The engineering is a puzzle you can almost feel in your hands.
Read the storyThe famous ranks of figures are part of a much larger burial landscape near Xi'an.
Read the storyFujian's tulou are large earthen buildings made for communal living. From outside, they can hide a whole little world.
Read the storyThe terracotta army near Xi'an is astonishing in a photograph. Look closer and its sculptures become a lesson in craft, not just size.
Read the storyThe Great Wall was built and changed over many centuries. The famous brick sections are only part of a much bigger story.
Read the storyWulingyuan's sandstone pillars can look like towers. They are geology, not buildings, and there are thousands of them.
Read the storyYou’ve reached the end of this collection.
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