Category Architectures

Five Great Avenue is the most complete European building complex in Tianjin and even in China. The Five Great Avenue area has more than 2000 garden type buildings with different national architectural styles built in two and 30s of last century, with a floor area of about 1000000 square meters. Among the most typical 300 buildings, 89 are British buildings, 41 are Italian buildings, 6 are French buildings, 4 are German buildings, 3 are Spanish buildings, there are many Renaissance buildings, classical buildings, eclectic buildings, Baroque buildings, courtyard buildings and Chinese and western buildings, which are called the World Architecture expo garden.

Spanning 3,216 meters (3,517 yards), it is the earliest-built, widest and longest avenue in Five Great Avenues. When visiting, pay special attention to No. 121 villa, a typical Spanish villa. Musée Hoangho Paiho on this avenue is one of the earliest museums in China. Founded in 1922, it is of Roman style architecture. Tianjin Institute of Business and Technology, now Tianjin Foreign Language University, built in 1921 with a large Gour wall and a Mansell tile roof, and is of French Romanesque architecture.

It is the earliest small western style house in Tianjin, mostly for foreigners who have opened up concessions. At that time, Wudao area was still a puddle of reed. Their houses are next to the office area, near the Jiefang Road, and around Marco Polo square, the former Italian Concession in Hebei Province. After entering the 20th century, on the one hand, with the change of society and government, the concession became a political haven; on the other hand, Tianjin gained the benefits of geography, transportation and customs, which was full of business opportunities.

Munan Avenue is 2,080 meters (2275 yards) long with 74  villas on both sides. No. 20 villa, built in 1930, is a classic western style mansion. No. 24 is in classic European style. No. 28 of an Italian style architecture. No. 50 is a courtyard of British style with red brick wall and red roof.

The porcelain house is located at No.72, Chifeng Road, Heping District, Tianjin. It is an unparalleled building. Its predecessor is an old French style building that has gone through hundreds of years. The building is known as a Priceless Chinese Ancient porcelain Museum.

The porcelain house used more than 4000 pieces of ancient porcelain, and decorated a French style building into a valuable porcelain house.

The porcelain pieces inlaid on the porcelain house cover all historical periods, including Celadon of Jin Dynasty, Sancai of Tang Dynasty, Jun porcelain and Longquan porcelain of Song Dynasty. Almost all kinds of porcelain can be found on the wall, and they are poured inside with cement and fixed with marble glue as a part of the building.

Inside the building, the ceilings and handrails are decorated with chinaware, too. The house preserves hundreds of precious furniture from Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, and more than 200 calligraphies and paintings both from home and abroad, including the masterpieces of Chinese great masters Zhang Xuan, Qi Baishi and Xu Beihong, and foreign masters Van Gogh and Picasso. All of precious treasures and china make the house inestimable and splendid.

Furthermore, the house dexterously combines traditional elements with Chinese culture. The outside of the wall is decorated by vases, and they are called “Walls of Peace”. Because “vase” sounds like “peace” in Chinese, the designers used vases to wish for peace and safety. Similarly, white marble sculptures and rock images are used frequently to symbolize good luck and chance. At last, the vivid dragons and phoenixes on the eaves symbolize auspice and prosperity.

First built in the 1920s, the Porcelain House covers a total area of 5,000 square yards (4,200 square meters). Adopting the architectural principle of eclecticism, the building is in French style as a whole but with an Italian-style corridor. It was inhabited by contemporary Chinese diplomat Huang Rongliang. In September 2002, Zhang Lianzhi, a businessman, artist and collector, bought the time-honored building at the price of CNY 30 million. He decided to transform it into a porcelain building to spread chinaware culture. On September 3rd, 2007, the house was open to the public. Since then, it has become a landmark in Tianjin. On September 23rd, 2010, it was listed by the US Huffington Post as one of the fifteen museums with unique designs, together with the Louvre Museum in Paris, French, and the Denver Art Museum in Colorado, America.

Zhaozhou Bridge is about 25km (15.53 miles) from the southeast of Shijiazhuang City, and it was designed by renowned constructor Li Chun.

Zhaozhou Bridge is the earliest and best-preserved open-spandrel stone arch bridge now in existence. The name was bestowed by Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty (1085-1100 A.D.), meaning ensuring people safe lives and aiding people. Designated by the State Council as being among China’s foremost protected monuments in 1961, Zhaozhou Bridge was also selected by the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) as the twelfth “milestone of international civil engineering” and a bronze monument was presented by the ASCE.

The first view of the Park that jumps to the eye is the archaic door to the mountain.

Zhaozhou Bridge stands out as a shining pearl set among the interspersed pavilions, the green grass and the majestic pines. The bridge is restored, but you can still see the relics of the old bridge, which are “national treasures”, in the exhibition room. In addition, there are also showrooms with an introduction to the surrounding environment and culture and a model designed for the expansion of Zhaozhou Bridge Park in future. If the whim hits you, you can row a boat on the blue-green water; Meanwhile, you can also have a taste of tea, read the legends of this bridge and get to know the influences of a bridge to the culture of a nation. You can also sit under the pavilions or the trees for comfortable and sweet dreams.

With a total length of 64m (211 feet), a span of 37m (121 feet) and a height of 7m (24 feet), the Zhaozhou Bridge is a single-arch stone bridge that has the longest span and history. The bridge is sophisticated yet elegantly constructed. Taking in the whole view, you will find it a single-arch bridge. However, it is actually a vertical combination of 28 arches. The two smaller spans in the shoulders of the bridge is an innovation in the history of the bridge construction, giving the stone bridge a fairly pretty design. Why is the Zhaozhou Bridge famous? Zhaozhou Bridge has its own architectural features: the greatness of the span and the smoothness of the arc not only cut the use of stone material but also facilitate travel. The two small spans in the two shoulders increase the drainage area to ease the flow of water, cut the use of stone material, lighten the bridge, and enhance the stability. The vertical combination building method makes every arch an independent body so that it would be convenient and economical for construction and restoration.

The sculptures on the bridge, such as the dragons, flowers and etc, are powerful, elegant, vivid and profound, demonstrating the artistic style and the essence of the Sui sculpture. As important as the Eiffel Tower and the Panama Canal, this bridge is honored as ‘the first well-known stone bridge in ancient China.’

Located in the southeast of the Macao peninsula, A-Ma Temple is the oldest temple in Macao. About four hundred years ago, the Portuguese landed on a headland near a temple. They asked the local people for the name of the land, but the locals misunderstood it, thinking the Portuguese were asking for the name of the temple. So they said “Ma Ge.” Later, the Portuguese translated the name “Macao” to refer to the land. A-Ma Temple is one of the three main buddhist temples in Macao.

Built in 1488 during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), the temple commemorates mazu, the goddess of the sea who protects fishermen. The goddess, Lin mo, is said to have been born in putian, fujian province, and is more intelligent than other children her age. She could predict good or bad luck, and after her death, she often helped merchants and fishermen avoid disaster, turning danger into safety. Many folk stories about the great goddess are now being told in the coastal areas.

A-Ma Temple is a place that offers quiet and spectacular views. It contains six main parts, all of which make up a series of Chinese classical architectural treasures, which are guarded by stone lions. Enter the hall of the red man, through the gate, after a winding path, to the hall of the red man. There is a statue of mazu, believed to be the oldest in the complex. Next, the guanyin hall will be presented to visitors. It was built mainly of brick and stone, in a simple style. Compared with other temples, the orthodox forest is tastefully designed in both scale and architecture.

Jokhang temple is the oldest and largest temple in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Locally, it is often referred to as Yinfo Si because of a rare silver statue of sakyamuni that stands 2.5 meters high.

Founded in 1580 during the Ming dynasty, jokhang temple is the oldest lama-buddhist temple in Inner Mongolia. In 1640 a major reconstruction was carried out, although much of the original architectural style was retained.
The jokhang temple is famous for the visit of Tibet’s third dalai lama in 1586, when he came to inaugurate a silver Buddha statue. As a result, Hohhot became a religious center for pilgrims from all over Mongolia. Another notable event in the temple’s long history was the visit of emperor kangxi in the early qing dynasty.
Jokhang temple is now a famous tourist attraction because of its impressive architecture, spectacular statues, exquisite murals, Musical Instruments and collection of buddhist classics. Among its rich religious treasures, perhaps the most striking are the “three treasures,” the title given to the silver Buddha, the dragon carved on the giant gold pillars on either side of the statue, and the frescoes commemorating the emperor’s visit.
Except for the main hall of jokhang temple, almost all the existing buildings in jokhang temple are han style. The main hall is a lama temple with Tibetan and han architectural styles. It has three parts. The front part is a two-story hall with an empty pavilion on the ground floor; Jingtang (prayer hall) and buddhist hall (worship hall) are the center and rear. The well-preserved silver Buddha exists in the buddhist temple, which has a history of more than 400 years. In front of the magnificent and solemn hall stood a pair of iron lions with their heads held high

Chinese bridges from ancient times, highly varied in art, material and form, are an important legacy with national characteristics, occupying an important position in the world history of bridge building. China, a country with such a long history, has inherited from her past bridges without number: there are, it is said, four million of them if one counts the stone arch bridges alone. In the southern regions of rivers and lakes, the landscape is dotted with bridges of various sizes and descriptions, which make it all the more picturesque.

The oldest bridge still in existence in China is the Anji Bridge, constructed during the years between 595 and 605. During the infrastructure boom of the past two decades, bridge-building has proceeded at a rapid pace on a vast scale.

1. Qiantang River Bridge

The Qiantang River Bridge is a road and railway bridge across the Qiantang River at Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, China. The bridge was designed by Mao Yisheng and built by Dorman Long. Construction, which started on 8 August 1934 was completed on 29 September 1937. It is a two-tier truss bridge with 16 spans and is 1,072 metres long. It is China’s first self-designed and self-built bridge. In 2006, the bridge was designated as a “key cultural relic” recognizing the bridge’s historic significance.

2. Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge

The Wuhan Yangtze Great Bridge is a double-deck road and rail bridge across the Yangtze River in Central China – Wuhan. At its completion in 1957, the bridge was the easternmost crossing of the Yangtze, and was often referred to as the “First Bridge of the Yangtze”. The upper level of the bridge is a two-way, four-lane automobile highway. The lower level is a double-track railway on the Beijing-Guangzhou railway line.

3. Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge

The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is a double-decked road-rail truss bridge across the Yangtze River between Pukou and Xiaguan in Nanjing, China. Its upper deck is part of China National Highway 104, spanning 4,588 metres. Its lower deck, with a double-track railway, is 6,772 metres long, and completes the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, which had been divided by the Yangtze for decades. It was the third bridge over the Yangtze after the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge and the Chongqing Baishatuo Yangtze River Bridge.

4. Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge

The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (HZMB), is a 55-kilometre (34 mi) bridge–tunnel system consisting of a series of three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands. It is both the longest sea crossing and the longest fixed link on earth. It spans the Lingding and Jiuzhou channels, connecting Hong Kong, Macau, and Zhuhai—three major cities on the Pearl River Delta. the construction of the whole project was completed on 6 February 2018 and put into service in October 24, 2018.

5. Sutong Yangtze River Bridge

The Sutong Yangtze River Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the Yangtze River in China between Nantong and Changshu. With a span of 1,088 metres, it was the cable-stayed bridge with the longest main span in the world in 2008-2012. It received the 2010 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement award (OCEA) from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Two towers of the bridge are 306 metres high and thus the third tallest in the world.

6. Lupu Bridge

The Lupu Bridge is a through arch bridge over the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, connecting the city’s Huangpu and Pudong districts. It is the world’s second longest steel arch bridge, after the Chaotianmen Bridge in Chongqing. The bridge has a total length including approach spans of 3,900 m and opened on June 28, 2003. The main bridge structure is 750m long including the two side spans of 100m each. The Lupu Bridge was one of the architectural centerpieces of Expo 2010 in Shanghai, as it formed part of the western boundary of the Expo site.

7. Chaotianmen Bridge

The Chaotianmen Bridge, is a road-rail bridge over the Yangtze River in the city of Chongqing, China. The bridge, which opened on 29 April 2009, is the world’s longest through arch bridge. The continuous steel truss arch bridge with tie girders has a height of 142 m from middle supports to arch top, main span of 552 m and a total length of 1,741 m. It carries 6 lanes in two ways and a pedestrian lane on each side on the upper deck. The lower deck has 2 traffic lanes on each side with a reservation in the middle for the Chongqing Metro Loop Line.

8. Hangzhou Bay Bridge

Hangzhou Bay Bridge is a highway bridge with a cable-stayed portion across Hangzhou Bay in the eastern coastal region of China. It connects the municipalities of Jiaxing and Ningbo in Zhejiang province. Construction of the bridge was completed on June 14, 2007 and it was opened to public May 1, 2008. At 35.673 km in length, Hangzhou Bay Bridge was among the ten longest trans-oceanic bridges.

In over 3,000 years, varied Chinese architecture has developed, ranging from magnificent imperial palaces to simple religious pagodas. Below is some information about the five types of ancient Chinese architecture.

1. Imperial Palaces

Imperial palaces were originally built to serve the extravagant lifestyles of the emperors, as well as to provide a centralized location for demonstrating imperial political control. The imperial palaces were built on a grand scale, sparing no expense to display the majesty and dignity of the imperial power of the time. Each successive emperor contributed grandeur to the structures, and today, these palaces stand for all to enjoy. Each imperial palace is a testament to the history and glory of Chinese culture. These glorious structures clearly demonstrate the creative essence and traditions of the Chinese people.

After the Qin and Han dynasties, palaces always occupied an important position in ancient Chinese architecture. Unfortunately many palaces have become relics. The buildings and designs of the Forbidden City are the peak of Chinese traditional architecture, not only scientific but also suitable for living. Now, it is the largest, the most complete and the finest of the palaces that are well preserved. From the whole architectural art of the Forbidden City, it embodies the special style and outstanding achievement of ancient Chinese architectural art, and is one of the outstanding buildings in the world.

2. Defensive Walls

Many ancient Chinese cities were surrounded by a set of walls. Outside the cities, there were sometimes barrier walls at the kingdom/empire borders. Most of them originally served as defensive fortifications.

The Great Wall is the world’s longest ancient architectural structure. It has a winding path over rugged mountains around Beijing and the Mongol border, from a beach in East China to a West China desert corridor between tall mountain ranges.

The original Great Wall had a basic compacted earth and wood construction. However, by the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) the characteristic stonework crenellations and various watchtowers were fully developed.

3. Pagodas

Pagodas are actually native to India. These octagonal towers were introduced to China along with the introduction and integration of Buddhism. The design of the traditional Indian pagoda changed as the structure was integrated into Chinese culture.

Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi’an is one of the most famous Buddhist buildings in China. It was built in the Tang Dynasty (618–907) to house monks who studied Buddhist scriptures.

The seven-storied brick pagoda was built without any cement. It has a height of 64 meters (210 feet) and from the top you can have a good view of the city of Xi’an, though it is now dwarfed by modern architecture.

4. Altars and Temples

Altars and temples are important components of Chinese culture. They provided ceremonial sites for offering prayers and sacrifices to heaven. Sacrifices were also offered to the moon, the sun, the earth, the mountains, scholars, and ancestors.

The Temple of Heaven was where emperors undertook an annual pilgrimage during the winter solstice to pray to heaven for a good harvest for the following year.

5. Mausoleums

Mausoleums are a very important aspect of Chinese culture and architecture. The ancient Chinese believed that the spirit lived on after the body passed away. Therefore, elaborate mausoleums were built to honor those who had moved on to the other dimension.

Many mausoleums display beautiful and elaborate artwork, carvings, and calligraphy. The standard design of a Chinese mausoleum includes walls around the structure, four open doors facing in each direction, and four turrets — one on each corner.

Located according to fengshui, mausoleums are commonly found on or by mountains. However, where mountains are lacking, they are found on flatlands and plains.

Ancient Chinese architecture is a beautiful gem as well as an integral part of Chinese culture. It is also one of the three greatest architectural systems in the world, the other two being European and Arabic architecture.

The main differences between Chinese traditional architecture and other parts of the world lie in the building materials. While most ancient Western buildings were constructed with stones, ancient Chinese people simply loved wooden architectures. Particularly, the load-bearing timber-framed structures stand out as the most distinctive symbol of the traditional Chinese architectural culture.

According to archaeological discoveries, Chinese people began to develop this unique construction style as early as more than 5,000 years ago. Generations after generations and dynasties after dynasties, Chinese carpenters and artisans had ingeniously invented a great number of wooden components to build flexible and earthquake-resistant structures for durable dwellings, magnificent temples and grandiose palaces.

Dougong(斗拱), Bracket set

Dougong, or bracket set, is not only a unique structural element, but also one of the most important members in traditional Chinese architecture.

Thanks to the interlocking wooden bracket, the eaves of some buildings could project out as far as more than 4 meters, thus providing vital protection for the wooden structure and mud walls from weather damage.

The bracket sets also provide a vertical support for the uplifted roof edges, or the so-called flying eaves, designed to let light penetrate into the interior of a building.

Most monumental buildings in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) employed a big number of large Dougong to support projecting and flying eaves.

Apart from its practical function, Dougong had also been used in ancient Chinese architecture for its ornamental appeal. Usually, the more important the building was, the more complex the Dougong would be.

Wujia(屋架), Truss

Wujia, or truss, is a framework of beams, rafters and posts forming a structure to support a roof. In ancient China, trusses were almost always made of wood.

Over thousands of years, Chinese trusses slowly developed distinct features. Chinese wooden trusses were mostly rectangular with tenon-and-mortise works and bracket sets while Western countries usually built triangular trusses.

Typically, ancient Chinese roofs were supported by beams and pillars rather than walls. Due to semi-rigid tenon-and-mortise works, such frameworks were better at shock absorption, which made such buildings safer in the event of an earthquake.

The former used two or more levels of post and lintel structure to uphold the roof and the latter used square logs to bind together pillars and posts to provide support to the roof.

The post-and-lintel construction was widely applied in official buildings, temples and folk houses in the northern part of the country, while the post-and-baulk construction was often seen in the south.

However, sometimes, both wooden roof trusses were used in the same building.

Zaojing(藻井), Caisson Ceiling

As a distinctive architectural feature of temples or palaces in ancient China, Zaojing, or caisson ceiling, is an ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome.

Using mainly the mechanism of Dougong (bracket set), the caisson is built with multiple interlocking layers of wood structural members. They are always richly carved, decorated or painted and appear in shapes such as square, circle, hexagon and sometimes a combination of these shapes.

As a symbol of sanctity, the caisson is always located directly above the most important part of a temple or palace, such as the throne or an altar. So, the center of a caisson is often decorated with bas-relief carving or painting of dragons or other sacred creatures.

Apart from its function for decoration, the caisson ceiling also represents one of the 28 lunar mansions in the Chinese constellations system, which is in charge of water. Since most ancient Chinese buildings were built with wood, the owners wished to have a virtual water source in the building to prevent fire hazards.

So, often one can find caisson ceilings in ancient Chinese buildings decorated with carvings or paintings of aquatic plants, such as lotus and water chestnuts.

Today, some most representative ancient Chinese wooden architectures are still in existence. For instance, Yingxian Wooden Pagoda or Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple in northern China’s Shanxi Province is the oldest and highest surviving all-wood tower. Also, the Forbidden City in Beijing is the largest wooden architectural complex in the world.