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Chinese
Architecture
Traditional
towns have usually been composed of three main elements, a north-south
alignment, a square and high defensive walls.
The
concept of Yin and Yang (feng shui) played a big role in the development
of residences. The north represents cold and shadow (Yin), therefore
dwellings shouldn't face north, but south toward the sun (Yang) and
light.
The
importance of a square is based on the ancient Chinese belief that the
earth is a square while heaven is a sphere. Everything was built
with this in mind, palaces, temples, residences and even entire
towns.
The
walls were a reminder of the Shang Dynasty (16-11 BC), when tall walls
were built around towns for military defense. More recently, defensive walls have given way to ring roads. Ring roads
are roads that surround a town and are usually lined with residential
housing.
Large
gates are not readily found anymore, and temples, pagodas can be found
within historical areas. Housing
is now comprised of large standardized apartment complexes crowded
together to get optimum use of the land.
The
large coastal towns, however, have attempted to broaden their
architectural styles from just monotonous designs to
international-styles.
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