[8] Chinese architecture is characterized by bilateral symmetry, use of enclosed open spaces, feng shui (e.g. directional hierarchies), a horizontal emphasis, and an allusion to various cosmological, mythological or in general symbolic elements.

Although unifying aspects exist, Chinese architecture varies widely based on status or affiliation, such as whether the structures were constructed for emperors, commoners, or for religious purposes.

From every source of information—literary, graphic, exemplary—there is strong evidence testifying to the fact that the Chinese have always enjoyed an indigenous system of construction that has retained its principal characteristics from prehistoric times to the present day.

That this system of construction could perpetuate itself for more than four thousand years over such a vast territory and still remain a living architecture, retaining its principal characteristics in spite of repeated foreign invasions—military, intellectual, and spiritual—is a phenomenon comparable only to the continuity of the civilization of which it is an integral part.In more recent times, China has become the most rapidly modernizing country in the world.

Moreover, the pressure for urban development throughout China requires high speed construction and a greater floor area ratio: thus, in cities the demand for traditional Chinese buildings (which are normally less than 3 levels) has declined in favor of high-rises.

[10] The Hongshan culture of Inner Mongolia (located along the Laoha, Yingjin, and Daling rivers that empty into Bohai Bay) was scattered over a large area but had a single, common ritual center of at least 14 burial mounds and altars over several ridges.

[11]: 55  The "Daqing Spirit" represented deep personal commitment in pursuing national goals, self-sufficient and frugal living, and urban-rural integrated land use.

[11]: 55  In the context of the Sino-Soviet split, Mao urged that planners should avoid the use of Soviet-style prefabricated materials and instead embrace the proletarian spirit of on-site construction using rammed earth.

[11]: 55  The Communist Party promoted the use of rammed earth construction as a low-cost method which was indigenous to China and required little technical skill.

[11]: 55 Reinforced concrete, brick-infill, and prefabricated materials were used increasingly following the Wall Reform Movement of 1973–1976 and were promoted in publications such as Architectural Journal.

Northern courtyards are typically open and face south to allow the maximum exposure of the building windows and walls to the sun while keeping out the cold north winds.

South-facing buildings in the rear and more private areas with higher exposure to sunlight are held in lower esteem and reserved for elders or ancestral plaques.

In multi-courtyard complexes, central courtyards and their buildings are considered more important than peripheral ones, the latter typically for storage, servants' rooms, or kitchens.

[17] Classical Chinese buildings, especially those of the wealthy, are built with an emphasis on breadth and less on height, featuring an enclosed heavy platform and a large roof that floats over this base, with the vertical walls deemphasized.

[23] The halls and palaces in the Forbidden City have rather low ceilings when compared to equivalent stately buildings in the West, but their external appearance suggests the all-embracing nature of imperial China.

[17] These include: The use of certain colors, numbers and the cardinal directions reflected the belief in a type of immanence, where the nature of a thing could be wholly contained in its own form.

Due to primarily wooden construction and poor maintenance, far fewer examples of commoner's homes survive compared to those of nobles.

Numerology influenced imperial architecture, hence the use of nine (the greatest single digit number) in much of construction and the reason why the Forbidden City in Beijing is said to have 9,999.9 rooms—just short of heaven's mythical 10,000 rooms.

These above-ground earthen mounds and pyramids had subterranean shaft-and-vault structures that were lined with brick walls since at least the Warring States period (481–221 BC).

[34] In Southern Song dynasty (1131AD), the design of Hongcun city in Anhui was based around "harmony between man and nature", facing south and surrounded by mountains and water.

[41] Later architectural historians Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, Mo Zongjiang, discovered that the Great East Hall of Foguang Temple on Mount Wutai in Shanxi dated to 857.

[54] This imaginary architecture reflected three major principles that carry messages about the relations between inhabitants, society, and the cosmos, and that depict gender power imbalances.

[54] Social concepts reflected the Five Relationships between "ruler and subject, father and child, husband and wife, elder and younger brother and friends.

The house was designed as a shelter to foil evil influences by channeling cosmic energies (qi) by respecting feng shui.

Depending on the season, astral cycle, landscape, and the house's design, orientation, and architectural details, some amount of energy would be produced.

While brides entered an unknown and potentially hostile environment, the husband "never had to leave his parents or his home, he knew which lineage and which landscape he belonged to from the time he began to understand the world.

Bray claimed that wives were often represented as "gossiping troublemakers eager to stir up strife between otherwise devoted brothers, the root of family discord, requiring strict patriarchal control.

Yungang Grottoes in Datong and numerous Buddhist temples in the sacred Mount Wutai exemplify Chinese religious architecture.

It is noted for its use of carvings and sculptures for decorations, green brick, balconies, "Cold alleys", "Narrow doors", and many other characteristics adaptive to the subtropical region.

The soft rock of the Loess Plateau in this region makes an excellent insulating material.Early architecture Early Xinjiang architecture was influenced by Buddhist, Manichaean, Sogdian, Uyghur and Chinese cultural groups, most prominent examples including the cave temples of Bezeklik; religious and residential buildings at Jiahoe; and temples and shrines at Gaochang.