Courtyard houses, or siheyuan, are one of the most traditional Chinese residences found in China. Many facets of Chinese traditional culture are hidden in these stately residences, which usually entail a courtyard surrounded on all four sides by buildings. According to a survey by a local records committee in Beijing, there are about 923 well-preserved courtyard houses in the capital. Even more interesting, each of these buildings has their own unique style and historical background.

In recent years, these traditional residences have become a hit on social media, with young people posting pictures of their visits online for all their friends to see. So what is it about these old buildings that people are finding so appealing?

Growing fame

In a promotional video for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, some famous buildings such as the Forbidden City, Bird's Nest stadium and the Water Cube were on display. Featured alongside these world famous works of architecture was a courtyard house known as the Zhang family residence.

The Zhang family residence is located at Guosheng Hutong in Beijing's Dongcheng district. The building is actually quite famous in China, even if many people don't know its name, as more than 30 dramas and movies have been shot at the location.

During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Jojje Olsson, a traveler from the Netherlands who ran across the Zhang Family Residence by coincidence, ended up putting the house in his book Miit Peking (My Beijing). Olsson did not expect that this move would end up bringing new vitality to the ancient yard.

"Several years ago, a foreigner called Anna came by. Chatting with her, we learned that our home was becoming popular overseas," Zhang Shihong, the eldest son of house's owner Zhang Guangzhi, told the Global Times. Nowadays, it is quite common to see visitors from all over the world arrive at the house for a look.

Encompassing an area of 960 square meters and 419 square meters of living area across 23 rooms, the residence can comfortably house roughly a dozen people. The entrance to the compound is a five-step stairway, a symbol that the residence was the home of a high ranking individual of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) court. Walking through the ancient wooden gate at the top of the stairs, visitors can see the square courtyard that forms the center of the compound and its surrounding stone walls and buildings.

In 1943, the residence was bought by Zhang Shihong's father, who was a government official, from one of the descendents of the Qing Dynasty Kangxi Emperor for 55 liang, or about 2.75 kilograms in gold ingots.

The courtyard is surrounded by four buildings. The north building was the main residence, and was where the head of the family resided. The west building was home to the younger female members of the family, while opposite them to the east was the building for the male family members. The last building to the south was a study.

Warmhearted hosts

Since it opened to the public in October 2007, the Zhang family residence has welcomed about 130,000 visitors from home and abroad. Famous visitors include US Olympics champion Michael Phelps and British singer Sarah Brightman, who visited in 2008.

Of the 20,000 or so tourists that arrive annually, roughly half are foreign tourists.

Considering the building is still home to the Zhang family, visitors may wonder if they are barging in by visiting the home.

"Of course they are," Zhang Manhao, Zhang Guangzhi's fourth daughter, joked.

"But we always welcome them."

According to the Zhang family, while tickets to the compound cost 10 yuan ($1.48), this income doesn't go to them directly, but is used to maintain the residence and its public facilities.

In addition to being able to walk around the compound, visitors can also attend classes for traditional Chinese arts such as calligraphy and paper-cutting given by Zhang Shihong and his sister Zhang Manhao. A decent calligrapher, Zhang Sihong says he enjoys teaching foreign visitors how to write Chinese characters.

At the end of each class, Zhang lets visitors keep what they wrote and sometimes gifts them with his own work.

In one of the rooms is a notebook where visitors can leave comments. During his interview, Zhang Shihong pulled down 17 of these notebooks from a shelf, each of them were filled with numerous comments in multiple languages as well as colorful drawings by children.

"We are very proud to introduce traditional Chinese culture to foreign visitors," he said. "We look forward to continuing these cultural exchanges and acting as folk ambassadors."