Old photos of Hankouli in old Hankou, Wuhan

The best charm of old Wuhan is in Hankou, in these ancient buildings. Haisouli and Changnianli near Yiyuan Road (near the old concession, both built in the 1910s, combining Chinese and Western styles, a combination of Western-style terraced houses and Chinese-style courtyard houses. A century of vicissitudes, after the 1950s, citizens were assigned to move in. Seventy-two tenants, hundreds of Han dialects, joy and sorrow, live here. In the past ten years, after renovation, the facade and living facilities have been greatly improved. The designer Ding Jianren was born in Shanghai in 1888 and came to Wuhan at the age of 18 to work in the German Schickes Architectural Office. He did not plan these foreign-style li fen (similar to Shanghai Shikumen-style residential buildings).