Kinmen Trip — Qionglin Village

April 2, 2011 — Qionglin Village, Kinmen

We were visiting my aunt in Qionglin, and the cousin who drove us there happened to know Kinmen’s villages very well. As we wandered around taking photos, he pointed out swallowtail roofs, horseback roofs, and walls built in the “brick-out, stone-in” style. I really did learn a few things along the way ^.^

Traditional buildings and a lane in Qionglin Village — With my cousin leading the way, I started photographing the village as we walked.

Shigandang in the Lanes

As we walked through the village, we came across shigandang stones placed along lanes and at spots where a road runs directly toward a building. They usually bear the characters for “Shigandang” or “Mount Tai Shigandang.” Some are decorated with lion heads, tiger heads, or bagua motifs, while others carry nothing more than the inscription.

A shigandang stone in a Qionglin lane — A shigandang of the kind commonly seen along village lanes.

My cousin also showed me a less common wall-mounted example. Instead of standing separately, it had been embedded in the wall when the house was built.

A shigandang embedded in the wall of an old Qionglin house — This less common shigandang was built directly into the wall.

Swallowtail and Horseback Roofs

I was told that swallowtail roofs were once reserved for officials’ homes and temples, though that convention was no longer followed so strictly in more recent times. Their ends sweep sharply upward, making them easy to spot once someone has taught you what to look for.

Upturned swallowtail roof on a traditional Qionglin building — The sharply upturned ends make the swallowtail roof easy to recognize.

Swallowtail roofline among layered rooftops in Qionglin — The layered rooftops make the swallowtail silhouette even clearer.

Then there were the horseback roofs. Their outlines looked rounder and heavier than the swallowtails, and the neighboring rooftops gave me plenty of chances to practice telling the two styles apart.

Rounded horseback roof on a traditional Qionglin building — The rounded horseback roof has a very different character from the swallowtail style.

Another horseback roofline in Qionglin Village — Another variation of the horseback roofline in the village.

Brick Out, Stone In

The “brick-out, stone-in” walls combine red brick with pieces of stone. The materials, shapes, and colors do not match perfectly, but together they create a wall with a character that feels distinctly Kinmen.

Brick and stone arrangement on a Qionglin masonry wall — Red brick and stone alternate across a brick-out, stone-in wall.

Texture of a brick-out, stone-in wall in Qionglin — Bricks and stones of different shapes give the old wall its distinctive texture.

A little humor from the people who built these houses long ago?! They even embedded a turtle in the brick wall ~.~'"

Turtle-shaped decoration embedded in a Qionglin brick wall — A turtle hidden in the brick wall—a builder’s joke from long ago?!

Wandering the Village Lanes

From there, we simply took our time walking and taking pictures around Qionglin. Old walls, rooftops, and narrow lanes connected one after another, with a different village scene waiting around every corner.

Street and lane scenery in Qionglin Village — Leaving the architectural details behind, we continued wandering through Qionglin’s lanes.

A lane corner and traditional old houses in Qionglin — Around another corner was a quiet view of the old houses.

A Homestay in an Old House

Some of the old houses in the village had been converted into homestays. They looked wonderfully nostalgic from the outside, but there was no need to worry about the bedrooms: inside were soft spring mattresses, televisions, and refrigerators after all…