Yunnan Province in southwest China neighbors Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, and is green all the year round thanks to a subtropical or tropical climate. Residential buildings similar to si he yuan can be found in central Yunnan. A typical courtyard in the area is a neat square -- a "seal courtyard" as local people call it. The principal building in a "seal courtyard" is a three-room structure, and is flanked at either side by a two-room structure. Opposite the principal building there is a neat row of structures, with the gate of the "seal courtyard" in the middle.

    All the structures are two-story buildings, and the walls facing the streets are high and, in most cases, without windows. The middle room on the first floor of the principal structure is reserved for guests, and the rooms at either side of it are the family's bedchambers. The middle room on

the upper floor, however, is for Buddha or ancestral worshipping ancestors. Among si he yuan-like courtyards found in China's deep south, "seal courtyards" are the most compact in structure.

    In the picturesque Dali where a dozen ethnic minority groups live, courtyards assume a variety of forms. There are courtyards formed with three rows of structures with a screen wall facing the principal building. The screen wall is whitewashed, on which colorful pictures are done, adding beauty to the courtyard while making it brighter. There are also courtyards enclosed in four structures. What is peculiar is that at each comer of a courtyard there is a smaller courtyard -- so "five courtyards enclosed by four buildings", as local people put it. Though different in ground plan, courtyards of the two types have a lot in common in architectural style with distinct ethnic characteristics.

    These courtyards are pretty large. The roofs, built with tiles, are beautifully shaped with the tips bending upwards. Minute attention is paid to exterior decoration of the buildings, which are mostly structures of timber. The walls are always carefully whitewashed, with a decorative border round on the upper parts. Mainly in black and white, the border forms a pleasant contrast. But it is the gate and the screen wall that receive the utmost attention. At either side of the gate there stands a column. Beams supported by the columns form a multi-story structure, with a set of brackets on its top. Colorful pictures and designs are painted on the beams and brackets, which fit so perfectly with the pure white walls. Ethnic Bais like to compare their residential buildings to beautiful girls who is in pure white trousers and jackets while wearing a head

gears elaborate in design and bright in color.