Residence of a Shanxi Businessman：the Grand Courtyard of Qiao Family
Unlike the villages and towns we visited on thecountryside tour above，this estate only has onehousehold，but the importance of this householdcannot be compared with that of an ordinary town or village.
The grand courtyard of Qiao family was formerly theprivate residence of the very wealthy Qiao family whowere members of the business class of Shanxi and is locatedin the exact center of Qiaojiapu Village in QixianCounty of Shanxi Province.The estate covers a total areaof 8，724 square meters，3，870 of which are occupied bybuildings.It is divided into 6 main courtyards furtherdivided into 20 smaller courtyards containing 313 rooms.
Looking at the estate from the air it can be seen that thearrangement forms an auspicious“double happiness”Chinese character.The estate is a completely enclosed group of buildings in the form of a bunker.Three sidesadjoin streets and all four sides are enclosed behind brickwalls that are over 10 meters tall，at the top of which aredaughter walls with lookout windows to hide behind andmaintain a lookout in case of attack to ensure securityand give the outside an imposing appearance.The grandcourtyard of Qiao family is well designed and well built，and fully reflects the unique style of Qing Dynasty residentialbuildings.It is an incomparable architectural treasurethat experts and scholars call“a bright pearl amongnorthern residential buildings”and others praise it saying，“See the Forbidden City to see how the royal familylived and see the grand courtyard of Qiao family to see afine example of how common people lived.”
There are three large courtyards at the northern endof the estate，from east to west called the old courtyard，northwest courtyard and study courtyard in accordancewith tradition.The three large courtyards at the southernend are called the southeast courtyard，the southwestcourtyard，and new courtyard.The names of the sixcourtyards at the two ends of the estate indicate the orderof the buildings.A perfectly straight stone-paved path 80meters in length divides the courtyards into a southernrow and a northern row.The ends of the paths wherethey meet the outer wall are protected by small hills.
Each courtyard has 4 main buildings，gatehouse，night guard tower，and six lookout pavilions.All the roomsare connected by a path on the roof for the use of guardpatrols.The grand courtyard of Qiao family is famousworldwide，not only for the grand and imposing appearanceof the buildings in the estate，but even more for theexcellent workmanship evident in every brick，tile，stone，and piece of wood.Moreover，there are engraved bricks，wood carvings，and paintings to be seen throughout thesix large courtyards.Looking at the overall appearance，the estate appears grand and imposing，well orderedwith a strict arrangement and carefully considered architecture;it is at once static and dynamic.Not only is theoverall appearance aesthetically pleasing，but each buildingalso has its own unique character.The more than 140chimneys on the buildings each have their own uniquestyle.All the pavilions，platforms，buildings，and raisedpavilions throughout the estate have engraved beams，painted posts，and other eloquent decorations fully demonstratingthe fine craftsmanship of the working peopleof ancient China.A more valuable example of this is no where to be found.
Construction on the grand courtyard of Qiao familybegan in the 20th year of the reign of the Qing EmperorQianlong（1756）and has since been enlarged twice andrenovated once.Nearly two centuries passed betweenthe time construction began and the time it attained itscurrent appearance.Although this is a long period oftime，the estate has retained its original character throughenlargement and renovation.The overall character of theestate is uniform despite the mixture of styles.
In 1985 the Qixian County People’s Governmentturned this ancient residence into the Qixian County Museumof Ethnic Customs，which officially opened to thepublic on November 1，1986.The museum displays over5，000 valuable relics to provide a concise picture of thefolk customs of central Shanxi.They include rural customs，the rites and ceremonies of life，climatic conditions，clothing，dietary and housing habits，ways of doing commerce，and folk handicrafts.Also on display are historicaldocuments concerning the Qiao family，Qiao familyjewelry，and special topic video displays.Over 8 millionforeign and domestic visitors have passed through themuseum’s doors since it opened.The movie Raise the RedLantern High directed by Zhang Yimou further increasedthe fame of the grand courtyard of Qiao family.
