The Most Luxurious Residence of China

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The residence of Hu Xueyan in Hangzhou is an amazing place that is well preserved and seemingly well cared for as well. It was built around 1872 and is made of more stone than wood unlike the palaces or mansions we saw in Beijing. After we visited we found out that much of it was restored in 1999. Hu Xueyan was a businessman in banking, military goods, and finally herbal medicine. He opened a medicine shop on Hefang street in Hangzhou where we had dinner the day before. The back side of the residence had a cave in it that had hallways and rooms in it and was fun for the kids to explore. The wood work was just amazing and generally well maintained. This is definitely worth a visit.

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Photos

The main courtyard
Hu Xueyan and his wife (or wives) would watch opera from this tower.

Multitude of rooms
With many concubines there are many small rooms and quarters to support them.

Bronze is throughout
The gutter work and barrels to catch the rain were all made of brass as well as the window hardware.

Ring ring
Calling concubine number 6! This is a shot of the communications system that was used to ring up a friend [:)]

Kitchen
This is the larger of two kitchens

Cheap transportation
These were used to carry people around town.

Comments

[Mom]

No Modern Tools
It' unbelievable that all that work was done with no modern tools. True craftmanship! It looks absolutely beautiful.