Xilin & Kanqing Villas

Overview of Heritage Site

Level of Protection of Immovable Cultural Heritage	[Major National-level Protected Historical and Cultural Sites] Batch No.6

Level of Protection of Historic Building	[Major Protected Historic Buildings] B2-03、04

Category	Significant Modern and Contemporary Site and Representative Architecture

Address	71、73 Yongchun Road

Time	1916、1927

Conservation Area of Immovable Cultural Heritage	Xilin Villa: Extend 10 meters outward from the heritage itself in all directions. Kanqing Villa: Extend 20 meters outward from the heritage itself in the east and the west; extend 10 meters outward from the heritage itself in the south and the north.

Introduction to Heritage Site

The Kanqing and Xilin Villas were built by Vietnamese Chinese Huang Zhongxun. Huang Zhongxun (1877—1956), who was from Xiamen, had passed the first level of the Imperial examination system at the end of the Qing Dynasty to earn the title of “Scholar”—Xiucai. Later he went to Vietnam to assist his father in the real estate business. In 1913, Huang returned to China, bringing his savings from the business and settled down in Kulangsu.
In 1916, Huang bought a piece of land at Yanzaijiao at the foot of Sunlight Rock, where he built the Kanqing Villa. It is a structure of brick and wood nearly 600 square metres in plan. The protruding “chu gui” style veranda, with its petal-shaped pointed arches, its handrails, and the form of its roof exhibit a strong influence of Southeast Asian colonial architectural style. Having completed the Kanqing Villa, Huang built the Houfanglan Memorial to commemorate his father’s hard work in building up his business in Vietnam.
In 1927, Huang Zhongxun started the construction of the Xilin Villa to the northwest of Sunlight Rock, completing it around 1932. It is a grandiose villa with a floor area of 2,100 square metres. It is said that Huang Zhongxun brought back the architectural plans from the Philippines and employed a construction team from Shanghai to carry out the work. The brick and concrete building is symmetrical in plan and faces the north. The verandas, along with the selection and use of materials such as stone, brick and granitic plaster, give the fa?ade the style commonly seen on the mansions built by overseas Chinese in Kulangsu in the early 20th century. The fa?ade is made even more decorative by the use of Corinthian style capitals, arc-shaped fascia elements under the eaves and ornamental railings.
The Kanqing and Xilin Villas are important examples of the mansions built by overseas Chinese in Kulangsu in the first half of the 20th century. Their architectural styles reflects the fusion of diverse cultures while the buildings themselves are testimony to the history of the overseas Chinese devoting themselves to the development of Kulangsu.