Ancient Residential Houses of Barkol

Ancient Residential Houses of Barkol

The Ancient Residential Houses of Barkol are a national A-level tourist attraction.

Guide The ancient residential houses of Barkol were built during the flourishing period of the Xinbei Route of the ancient Silk Road from the Kangxi to Qianlong eras of the Qing Dynasty, and gradually formed between the Jiaqing era and the end of the Republic of China. These historic dwellings coexist with Barkol, known as “the region with the most temples in all of Xinjiang,” and represent cultural relics from the same period. They are a concentrated expression of traditional Han Chinese architectural art in the Western Regions. Introduction The most typical example among the ancient residences of Barkol is the Wang Family Courtyard in Yushu Lane.

The house is located at No. 5, Yushu Lane, South Street. The origin of Yushu Lane’s name comes from a elm tree within the courtyard. This umbrella-shaped elm tree, over ten meters tall and more than 134 years old, gave the lane its name: Yushu Lane (Elm Tree Lane). The house is built with a timber-and-earth structure, originally covering about ten acres. It took three years to build at the time. Due to historical reasons, it now only occupies around two acres. At its peak, the courtyard housed forty to fifty people living together under one person’s leadership. It has now become a place where descendants of the Wang family come to worship their ancestors and escape the summer heat. In 2002, it was designated as a county-level cultural relics protection unit by the Autonomous County People's Government.

The ancient residence is divided into five exhibition rooms: the ancestral hall, the main room, the study, the accounting room, and the kitchen.

Hami, Xinjiang