East China’s Jiangsu province has made unremitting efforts for revamp ancient buildings to rejuvenate these ancient buildings with new vitality in a bid to enhance its cultural heritage protection.
The main hall of Suzhou Shantang Street Sculptured Mansion or Diaohualou used to be an important place in the past for the host to receive distinguished guests. A fire in 2000, however, wrecked havoc on the building.
After the restoration, we can see that the entire building still maintains its old-fashioned features. The carvings on the door have also been restored, appearing as delicate and lifelike as possible to earn it the title of being a masterpiece in the architectural world.
The ancient building complex of Shantang Street Sculptured Mansion was purchased as a family home by Xu Hedan, a famous Suzhou doctor in Qing Dynasty in 1926, where he opened a clinic and a pharmacy.Because of its magnificent architecture and exquisite carvings, it was once known as "the first residence outside Suzhou city".
"The whole building is mainly woodcarving.Generally speaking,there are quite a lot of carved buildings in Suzhou,but carved buildings of this size are rare."said Yuan Xiaofang, Ancient architecture engineer
In 2001, Zhou Bingzhong, a businessman from Suzhou, bought this abandoned house and went to Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Anhui to buy wood. He then invited famous craftsmen to restore brick carvings and made on-site carvings so that the ancient building was fully restored.
Yangzhou city began to repair the former site of the Joint Office for Salt Merchants from Four Provinces, a place where the salt merchants from Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Anhui discussed business in Yangzhou during the Qing Dynasty. It has a history of about 200 years.
"The carved flowers on his gate are all representing good luck and some beautiful connotations."said Zhang Wenlin, Staff member of Yangzhou Cultural Tourism Group
Historically, there were more than 90 houses of various types in the Joint Office for Salt Merchants from Four Provinces, with three-axis buildings in the east, middle, and west.
This renovation will reproduce the original appearance of the ancient building as much as possible in accordance with the principle of repairing the old as it was before.
"We will demolish some illegal buildings inside,repair doors and windows,and carry out partial preservation repairs."said Zhang Wenlin, Staff member of Yangzhou Cultural Tourism Group
