In north China, si he yuan are the most popular housing buildings in traditional style. A si he yuan is a rectangular compound with traditional one-story houses of gray tiles and bricks built on the four sides of it. The most typical si he yuan compounds are found in Beijing.

    Buildings in a typical si he yuan are arranged in neat rows on the four sides of the compound -- the east, west, north and south, which are linked by verandas. The main rooms, which face south and are the largest and brightest, are reserved for the seniors, while the juniors live in rooms of the east and west rows. Facing the main rooms, in the south, is a veranda with a gate -- the "inner gate" -- in the middle.

    Inside this "inner gate" lies the "inner courtyard", the living quarters of the family or the main part of the compound. The "outer courtyard", often rectangular in shape, lies beyond the "inner gate". Facing the "inner gate" is a row of buildings reserved for male servants and guests. The building at the east end of the row, however, is the main gate of the compound. Female helpers live in a small courtyard at the far end of the "inner courtyard", where there are also kitchens and storerooms.

Rooms flanking the main rooms are used as toilets.

    The compound would have been totally enclosed but for the main gate, while doors and windows are invariably open inwardly, obviously to ensure peace and privacy of the family. While serving the needs of family members, the compound enlivens those patriarchal rules that calls for an explicitly defined order of the senior and the junior, the master and the servant, and those belonging to the family and those who do not.

   Now let's get into the compound, through the main gate. The first thing that greets our eyes is a screen wall of bricks with decorated patterns. Our guide tells us that in many compounds, potted flowers or exotic rocks are found before the screen walls. By courtesy of our host, we are allowed into the "inner courtyard", which turns out to be a pleasant garden with painstakingly pruned plants. We are told that many si he yuan compounds are alive with plants in three seasons of the year-- pear or peach trees that bloom in Spring, willows that provide shade in Summer, and persimmon or date trees that bear fruit in Autumn. Even though the space is limited, we find two roads forming a neat cross in the middle of the courtyard. Such roads, we are told, can be paved with either pebbles or bricks.

   Si he yuan compounds can be large or small, depending on the social status and financial capabilities of their owners. A si he yuan can be very small and crowded, a simple courtyard occupied by several or even scores of families. A large, rich family with three or more generations "living under the same root" may, however, own a mansion consisting several si he yuan compounds standing side by side or one after another, often with a family garden. Sandwiched in between two rows of si he yuan compounds, large or small, is an alley, or hu tong as known to Beijing residents. Both ends of the hu tong are connected with busy streets.

    Look at an old map of Beijing you'll find the entire city cut into neat blocks by webs of hu tongs, each block being a residential area. Beijing is rapidly modernizing, and many old si he yuan compounds are gone, along with numerous hu tongs that have been widened. Tours of the remaining hu tongs on a rickshaw are becoming popular, reminding people of those long, long years when hu tongs, long or short, narrow or relatively wide, were alive with small traders hawking their goods including even "sweet water''~, or buying secondhand clothing for resale. The centuries-old hu tong culture cries for preservation. Let's hope for the best.

   Si he yuan can also be found in northeast China, but are different in style and ground plane from those in Beijing. Winter is long and cold in this area, where the population density is relative small. Besides, horse-drawn carts are the chief means of transportation in the countryside. A typical si he yuan there is large, with a gate wide enough for a horse-drawn cart to get in and out. The compound is rectangular in shape, with the north side much longer than the east and west sides, so that more south-facing buildings can be built for sunshine in winter.

   In old times, Shanxi Province in north China produced some of China's richest merchants, who invariably had residences built in cities. The compounds, some of which have been preserved to this day, are similar to si he yuan in Beijing. A typical Shanxi compound is a neat square, enclosed by four neat rows of buildings and with the gate at the east end of the north-facing outermost row. But, unlike a Beijing si he yuan formed by one-story structures, most structures enclosed in a typical Shanxi compound are two-story buildings and, in many cases, the principal building occupied by the most senior elder of the family is three stories high. The gate often has an elaborately decorated arch over it.

    At either side of the gate there is a fierce-looking stone lion supposedly to ward off evil spirits. Also found outside the gate is a stone drum that serves as the base for a high pole. Like the stone lions, the pole is a symbol of the family's might. To sum up, Shanxi compounds look more imposing and majestic than si he yuan in Beijing.