"Red bricks and white stones are built into swallow-tailed roof ridge; carved beams and painted rafters are built into earthen and wooden buildings combining Chinese and western elements." This saying refers to the traditional Southern Fujian buildings- red- brick old houses. Under the blue sky, red walls, grey tiles, high and flexible swallow- tailed roof ridges, plain brick carving and window lattice are full of deep old feelings.

The most attractive element of red-brick old houses is the facade of the red- brick wall besides the swallow- tailed roof ridge. The wall surface is elaborately piled while the veneer is embedded into various patterns which become a variety of brick setting art. The application of multiple carving decorations, such as brick carving, stone carving, wood carving and porcelain carving, makes the house more beautiful and splendid. The architectural plane of red- brick old houses is regular and neat which adopts central axis symmetry layout. The most typical is three- room double large house with five open rooms, and a large- scale courtyard is distributed beside. Such plain red-brick old houses present the firm, optimistic, calm and generous characters of people in Southern Fujian.

Tips

Recommended famous red-brick old houses of Xiamen:

Jingfan House (Lu House): Lu House has protective houses and high walls all round and it has had heating, lighting, water supply and drainage management with advanced facilities since one hundred years ago.

Address: No.5, Weizainei, Fuhai Community, Xiagang Street, Siming District

Lotus Villa: built at the end of Qing Dynasty, located at a small land called Lotus Island. Lotus Island is surrounded with creeks and pools which are full of lotus, forming poetic atmosphere. The villa covers 8235 square meters which is a rural cluster including ancestral halls, schools and dwellings, with gorgeous and splendid carved beams and painted rafters.

Address: Haicang Village, Haicang Street, Haicang District

Xin'an ancient dwelling: Xin'an Village of Xinyang of Haicang has about 70 Southern Fujian old houses which were built by overseas Chinese who went to Southeast Asia at the end of Qing Dynasty and at the beginning of the Republic of China. They are typical Southern Fujian red- brick buildings.

Address: North Area of Xin'an, Xinyang Street, Haicang District

Zheng's Settlement: the village has 148 red- brick old houses and the villagers were all surnamed Zheng. The old houses include buildings built during the period of Ming and Qing Dynasty, at the beginning of the Republic of China and in the early new China era. Zheng's Family Temple was the meeting room of Jinmen County Government of Dadeng during the anti- Japanese War.

Address: Tian'an Community, Dadeng Island, Xiang'an District

Lvtang old house cluster: Lvtang Village was rated as one of "top 10 most beautiful countries in Fujian" in 2006. It has many exquisite buildings built during the period of Ming and Qing Dynasty which are plain and colorful. The old house cluster of Lvtang Village is "nine- shelf house" with characteristics of Southern Fujian old buildings. Such old house is ventilated, dry but cool, and can protect against thunder, wind and quake.

Address: Lvtang Village, Xiang'an District