Former Residence of Hu Xueyan_Hangzhou Where Tradition Meets Innovation

Former Residence of Hu Xueyan

In the mid to late 19th century, Hu Xueyan (1823-1885) was the richest man in China. His former residence is located just east of Hefang Street and Dajing Alley. Built in 1872, the residence occupies more than 5,815 square meters. Exquisitely composed, the living areas and grounds blend together to form an organic whole. The most striking of all the residences built by Chinese business magnates in the late Qing Dynasty, it is a classic example of a traditional private home in the south-of-Yangtze style.

The architectures inside Hu Xueyan’s Former Residence, including pavilions, bridges, streams and zigzag corridors, are well designed. You can see exquisite carving works on bricks, woods, stones and lime. The rockery in Zhi Garden is the largest artificial karst cave existing in China. This residence adopts large quantities of red sandalwood, Dalbergia cochinchinensis, nanmu, gingko, araucaria, Chinese beech and other high-class woods. All these delicate architectures and interior furnishings have made Hu Xueyan’s Former Residence “the best residence of Chinese baron in the late Qing Dynasty”. Except pavilions such as Thirteen Pavilion and Zhi Garden, there’re also calligraphy and carving works from famous masters including DONG Qichang, ZHENG Banqiao, TANG Bohu and WEN Zhengming.

(Source: Hangzhou West Lake Scenic Area Management Committee)

Add：No.18, Yuanbao Street, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou
Tel：0571-86821131
Transportation：Public transport: take No.59, No.60, No.71, No.113, No.127, No.216, No.315, No.327, No.334, No.352 or No.801 bus and get off at Hu Xue Yan Gu Ju (Hu Xueyan’s Former Residence) Stop.

Source：www.ywhangzhou.cn Editor：XU Jiawei