ENG-1956 — Page 200

HOUSING

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cement-paved space which may be used for drying vegetables and medicinal plants, as well as being a convenient meeting place. The spaces between each of the back rows of houses are narrow, with paved access and open drains. Houses are constructed of locally-made blue brick or rough-cut granite blocks, a heavy tiled roof, and, in recent years, cement floors. Such houses stand for hundreds of years. In the poorer vil- lages houses are built of sun-dried mud brick, faced with plaster. These houses deteriorate after a few years, the owner usually rebuilding in similar style. If left unoccupied, they soon disintegrate into heaps of rubble: in which case super- stition will often forbid rebuilding on the same site. A well- built stone village house usually consists of a single ground- floor room, with only one entrance, often separated from the outer court by a covered porch. One side of the room (usually near the door) or one side of the porch, may be used for cooking, while the other side is used for storing grass, the principal fuel. The rear portion of the room may be screened off with wooden partitions, for use as a bedroom, and over this portion, raised some eight feet above floor-level, there may be a wooden platform or gallery used for storage or for extra sleeping accommodation. There is no ceiling, fire- place or chimney, and few windows. The altar and shelf for ancestral tablets is at the back of the room, facing the main entrance. In the hilly Hakka areas, on account of the scarcity of level ground, many houses have their sleeping accommoda- tion in an upper storey reached by ladder.

New Territories housing is at the present time being sub- stantially influenced by more modern ideas, particularly in imitation of new buildings (such as school-houses) designed by urban architects. These, however, mainly affect the choice of materials. The essential form of the traditional Chinese house is maintained, except that newer houses have more windows. Architects are seldom, if ever, employed for village houses.

In certain areas city-dwellers have built modern bungalows