Wang's Residence at Xixing Street

What the listing says

The city's description, as summarised on English Wikipedia: Constructed in the late Qing Dynasty, this traditional courtyard-style wooden building is a representative of civialian residential buildings in Xixing region.

Since 2013 part of a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (the Grand Canal).

Xixing, in today's Binjiang District, sits at the western end of the East Zhejiang Canal, where goods and travellers crossed between the Qiantang River and the canal. From the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty, transfer firms called guotanghang grew up here to handle that crossing; at their height people spoke of "seventy-two and a half" of them. When the Qiantang's channel moved north and the canal fell out of use, the firms closed. The canal head became a Hangzhou protected site in 2002, part of the Grand Canal national protected site in 2013 and part of the Grand Canal World Heritage property in 2014.

Key facts

Where it fits

Traditional houses of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) on Hangzhou's list are mostly timber-framed courtyard houses of one or two storeys, closed to the street by walls and gateways. They stand in the lanes of the old city, along the canal and the Qiantang River at Xixing and Changhe, and in the towns and villages of Xiaoshan and Yuhang. All the qing dynasty houses on the list.

It belongs to the fourth batch, announced on 14 August 2008: 49 buildings, including lane houses, the shops of Zhongshan Road, the former Boji Hospital and Qing houses at Xixing and Changhe.

What the listing protects

A listed building may not be altered, moved or demolished without approval. Under the regulations in force since 1 October 2013, each listed building has a protection plan and a sign put up by the city, and falls into one of three protection categories, from keeping its main exterior features to keeping its exterior, plan, structure and details.

Its owner, or for a state-owned building its user, is responsible for upkeep and repairs, and a repair plan must be approved first. The listing does not open a building to the public: most listed buildings are still homes, offices, schools or shops.

On the same street

• Shenwei Quan's Commercial Transfer Station: LSJZ3-56, late qing dynasty
• Buildings at 175 and 183, Xixing Street: LSJZ3-57, late qing dynasty
• Yu's Residence at Xixing Road: LSJZ3-58, late qing dynasty
• Yang's Residence at Xixing Street: LSJZ3-59, late qing dynasty
• Sun's Residence at Xixing Road: LSJZ3-60, late qing dynasty
• Sheng's Residence at Xixing Street: LSJZ4-33, qing dynasty

Sources and licence

• Description: adapted from the English Wikipedia article List of fourth batch of declared historic buildings in Hangzhou, CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Chinese name, period, address and remarks: Chinese Wikipedia, 杭州市历史建筑 and the building's own article, CC BY-SA 4.0.
• Listing: Hangzhou municipal government notice 杭政函〔2008〕179号 of 14 August 2008.
• Photo: 猫猫的日记本, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons. Photos credited to "hangzhoumemory" or "Laohangzhou" were uploaded by the former heritage portal; Hangzhou Memory is not connected with it.
• The text of this page is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.