# Hangzhou Shikumen Lane Houses: The Listed Stone-Gate Lanes

> Hangzhou shikumen lane houses explained: the 19 stone-gate lanes on the city's historic buildings list, from Yuanmaoli to Sixinfang, with a page for each.

Canonical: https://hangzhoumemory.org/shikumen-lane-houses
Updated: 2026-10-30

Hangzhou shikumen lane houses are terraces of two-storey houses on narrow lanes behind stone-framed gateways, mostly built in the 1920s and 1930s. 19 lane groups are on the city's historic buildings list; many are named with *-li* (里) or *-fang* (坊), as in Yuanmaoli, Sixinfang and Chengdeli.

## In brief

Lane houses, called *lilong* or, after their stone door frames, *shikumen*, are terraces of two-storey houses along a narrow lane entered through a gateway. The type spread from Shanghai to Hangzhou between the 1910s and the 1930s. Several of Hangzhou's listed lanes stand east of West Lake; Sixinfang, for example, was built on land of the Qing banner garrison that was cleared in 1913.

**By batch**

| Batch | Announced | Buildings of this type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [First](/first-batch) | 24 May 2004 | 1 |
| [Second](/second-batch) | 1 July 2005 | 4 |
| [Third](/third-batch) | 6 March 2007 | 10 |
| [Fourth](/fourth-batch) | 14 August 2008 | 4 |
| [Fifth](/fifth-batch) | 22 March 2010 | 0 |

## How a lane works

A gateway on the street opens onto a main lane, with numbered side lanes off it. Each house has its own stone door frame and a small front courtyard, a hall on the ground floor and rooms above. Developers built the lanes to rent or sell, mixing a Chinese courtyard plan with Western terraced building, which is why the listing descriptions so often call them a transition from traditional to modern housing. The type is better known from Shanghai, where it is called *lilong*.

## Sixinfang, a lane quarter by the lake

[Building Cluster at Sixinfang Alley](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/思鑫坊建筑群-3) shows how such a quarter came about. In 1913 the Qing banner garrison beside West Lake was cleared and the land sold; the silk merchant Chen Xin bought this plot, and its first row of 24 brick-and-timber houses was finished in 1926. It is now a protected historic block with a small exhibition on its history at No. 1 Xiaonü Road.

## All 19 on the list

**Shikumen lane houses on Hangzhou's historic buildings list**

| No. | Building | Built | Address (Chinese) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LSJZ1-1 | [Yuanmaoli Contemporary Building Cluster](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/源茂里近代建筑群) 源茂里近代建筑 | Between 1911 and 1949 | 源茂里一弄、二弄、三弄 |
| LSJZ2-1 | [Wufu Alley Building Cluster](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-五福里建筑群) 五福里建筑群 | 1920s | 板桥路五福里一弄1至11、二弄1至14、三弄1至11号 |
| LSJZ2-2 | [Jiuxing Alley Building Cluster](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/九星里建筑群) 九星里建筑群 | 1920s | 九星里1-9、17、18，长生路35、34-3、34-4号 |
| LSJZ2-4 | [Buildings at 290–298 (Even Numbers), West Lake Avenue](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/西湖大道290至298号（双号）建筑) 西湖大道290号至298号（双号）建筑 | 1920s | 西湖大道290号至298号 |
| LSJZ2-5 | [Buildings at 224–236 (Even Numbers), West Lake Avenue](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/西湖大道224号至236号（双号）建筑) 西湖大道224号至236号（双号）建筑 | 1920s | 西湖大道224号至236号 |
| LSJZ3-3 | [Meihe Tang Residence](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/梅鹤堂) 梅鹤堂 | 1930s |  |
| LSJZ3-4 | [Building Cluster at Longxiangli Alley](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/龙翔里建筑群) 龙翔里建筑群 | 1920s |  |
| LSJZ3-5 | [Lakeside Building Cluster](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-湖边邨建筑群) 湖边邨建筑群 | 1920s | 湖边邨 |
| LSJZ3-6 | [Building Cluster at Daqingli Alley](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/大庆里建筑群) 大庆里建筑群 | 1920s |  |
| LSJZ3-9 | [Building Cluster at Sixinfang Alley](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/思鑫坊建筑群-3) 思鑫坊建筑群 | 1920s | 学士路7至30号、思鑫坊1至40号、承德里一弄7至34号等 |
| LSJZ3-10 | [Building Cluster at Chengdeli Alley](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/承德里建筑群-2) 承德里建筑群 | 1920s | 承德里 |
| LSJZ3-19 | [Building Cluster at Pingyuanli Alley](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/平远里建筑群-2) 平远里建筑群 | Early 1920s |  |
| LSJZ3-20 | [Building Cluster at Qiafengli Alley](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/恰丰里建筑群-3) 恰丰里建筑群 | Early 1920s |  |
| LSJZ3-23 | [Building Cluster at Siweili Alley](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-四维里建筑群) 四维里建筑群 | Early 20th century |  |
| LSJZ3-45 | [Building Cluster at Yanchunli Alley](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-燕春里建筑群) 燕春里建筑群 | 1930s |  |
| LSJZ4-1 | [Houses at Dasanli Alley](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-达三里建筑) 达三里建筑 | Between 1911 and 1949 |  |
| LSJZ4-3 | [Tiandefang House](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-天德坊) 天德坊 | Between 1911 and 1949 |  |
| LSJZ4-4 | [Building Cluster at Xuanshouli](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-萱寿里建筑群) 萱寿里建筑群 | Between 1911 and 1949 | 萱寿里1-12号、12-16号 |
| LSJZ4-6 | [Building Cluster at Huixingli](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/古城佳话-历史建筑-惠兴里建筑群) 惠兴里建筑群 |  |  |

## Sources

Hangzhou Memory groups the buildings by type from their names and descriptions; the city's lists do not classify them. Names and descriptions come from English Wikipedia's batch lists, and Chinese names, periods and addresses from [杭州市历史建筑](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/杭州市历史建筑) on Chinese Wikipedia, both CC BY-SA 4.0.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a shikumen?

A stone-gate house: a terraced two-storey house entered through a stone door frame, built along lanes in Shanghai, Hangzhou and other cities from the late 19th century to the 1930s.

### Which is the first lane on Hangzhou's list?

[Yuanmaoli Contemporary Building Cluster](/web/guest/lsjz-content_display/-/asset_publisher/0qkI/content/源茂里近代建筑群), LSJZ1-1, three parallel lanes of stone-arched gate houses, the first building of the first batch.