Old house Here, I would like to introduce one traditional style of courtyard in China, the Five-doors-in-a-line courtyard. The yard is constituted with three sub-yards and corresponding four house-groups. All houses are arranged around an axis and all doors are faced to south, according to the same principle of the imperial Palace. Since the first house-group, the gate houses, has two doors located in the axis, there are totally five doors in the center line of axis. Thus, the yard is named as the Five-doors-in-a-line courtyard. Normally, the last house is one two-floor building and is much higher than other ones. This kind of yard is very common in ancient China. Rich merchants and high officials tended to show their power in their home village by building this style of courtyard. My great-great-grandfather also built the Five-doors-in-a-line courtyard in Tsing dynasty，in 1748 actually. This yard boosted its area and house height in my hometown and gave our family many glories. However, time changed so lot. Now, only one single house survived and it is just my birthplace. It looks so frazzled and old-fashioned. Even so, I love it and feel proud for its time-tolerant. Wish it stand even longer!