The Han family compound that we toured in Shangli consisted of a number of
connected courtyards. Because the town is a tourist attraction, there is some ongoing maintenance,
but except for the entrance to the town and a few new buildings, most of the repairs are just
sufficient to keep the place from falling down.
The old family compound was full of intricately carved wood and stone work. Some
of it had been damaged during the war between the Communists and the Guomintang, some during the
Cultural Revolution. Animals were a significant element of the imagery. They were usually depicted
because the name of the animal sounds similar to a positive word. For instance, there is a bat in this
window screen. The word for bat is bian, which is the pronounciation of another character
that means “happy.”
The bridge in the background is several hundred years old. You can see mountains in
the distance. Shangli is at the head of a small flat valley surrounded by tall mountains.