Shikumen

Shikumen (simplified Chinese: 石库门; traditional Chinese: 石庫門; pinyin: Shíkùmén; lit. 'Stone Warehouse Gate', Shanghainese: zaq⁸ khu¹ men⁶, IPA: [zᴀʔ¹¹ kʰu¹¹ mən²⁴]) is a traditional Shanghainese architectural style combining Western and Chinese elements that first appeared in the 1860s.^[1]

The term 石库门 is derived from the Shanghainese dialect 石箍门, 箍 meaning "to frame or encase." 石箍门 referred to the characteristically "stone-framed door" of the tenement houses.^[2] At the height of their popularity, there were 9,000 shikumen-style buildings in Shanghai, comprising 60% of the total housing stock of the city;^[3] however, the proportion is currently much lower, as most Shanghainese live in large apartment buildings. Shikumen is classified as one type of lilong residences, sometimes translated as "lane houses" in English.

In 2010, "construction techniques of shikumen lilong architecture" was recognised by the Chinese government on the national non-physical cultural heritage register (no. VIII-210).

Shikumen houses were also introduced to other port cities in China. For example, many were built in the foreign concessions of Hankou (now part of Wuhan), and some can still be seen there today. Shikumen terraces can even be found as far afield as Beijing, where the two shikumen lanes Huakang Li and Tai’an Li, dating from the 1920s, are undergoing restoration.