Shikumen

Common card · No. 390189

Shikumen (simplified Chinese: 石库门; traditional Chinese: 石庫門; pinyin: Shíkùmén; lit. 'Stone Warehouse Gate', Shanghainese: zaq8 khu5 men6, IPA: [zᴀʔ˩ kʰu˩ mən˨˦]) is a traditional Shanghainese architectural style combining Western and Chinese elements that first appeared in the 1860s. The term Chinese: 石库门 is derived from the Shanghainese dialect Chinese: 石箍门, Chinese: 箍 meaning "to frame or encase." Chinese: 石箍门 referred to the characteristically "stone-framed door" of the tenement houses. At the height of their popularity, there were 9,000 shikumen-style buildings in Shanghai, comprising 60% of the total housing stock of the city; however, the proportion is currently much lower, as most Shanghainese live in large apartment buildings. Shikumen is classified as one type of lilong residences, sometimes translated as "lane houses" in English. In 2010, "construction techniques of shikumen lilong architecture" was recognised by the Chinese government on the national non-physical cultural heritage...

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