Kiss of Life for an Old Caravan Market
Until the middle of last century, Shaxi was a flourishing village on the caravan road to Tibet. The following decades made it a place that history forgot. Now Shaxi is undergoing an award-winning restoration.
In Huize, the old capital of copper in Yunnan, many splendid guildhalls survive.
Few people know as much about Chinese architecture as Knapp: from palaces to humble homes he explains important building principles; the connection between environment and housing styles and the development of style over time. A section on minority housing styles complements the book.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.