Chinese architecture is work of earth and stone. Wood and Earth have always been the major material of Chinese architecture throughout its history, one reason of which is the gentle climate in most regions of China; for this reason, it is unnecessary to build solid stone shelters to get rid of the wicked weather. As a principle of traditional Chinese architecture, the use of wooden framework has been carried through all the time. The skeleton consisting of pillars and beams transfers the gravity load of the upper part of the building to the ground, thereby ensuring the stability of the whole structure, while the wall only serves as curtain to separate the inner space and outer space. As a result, the building will not fall down even if the wall is ruined.
Traditional Chinese buildings usually appear as groups, and each of the single is highly standardized. Despite its scale, every building is constituted by 3 primary parts including step base, Main body and roof: At the bottom is the step base made of bricks or stone, with several steps leading onto a platform on which the main body is built. The main body is structured by wood pillars, accompany with doors and windows amongst them. Above the main body is the roof which is trussed by wood members and covered by black or colored glaze tile. The plan of most buildings are rectangular, however, in some situations, it can also be square, eight-square or round. The roof also has different forms, and every form can have single or double eaves.
wood structure
Traditional Chinese buildings usually appear as groups, and each of the single is highly standardized. Despite its scale, every building is constituted by 3 primary parts including step base, Main body and roof: At the bottom is the step base made of bricks or stone, with several steps leading onto a platform on which the main body is built. The main body is structured by wood pillars, accompany with doors and windows amongst them. Above the main body is the roof which is trussed by wood members and covered by black or colored glaze tile. The plan of most buildings are rectangular, however, in some situations, it can also be square, eight-square or round. The roof also has different forms, and every form can have single or double eaves.
Usually, Chinese architecture have plane layout, and very keen regard of composition of the building group has been shown in it, the fundamental rule of which is symmetry, multilayer and connotation. Except some special ones such as gate tower of drum tower, single buildings are seldom exposed completely in sight. Every building group has at least one courtyard, therefore make the combination variable. The layout is usually symmetric; central yard and central axle are widely adopted. However, as an exception, the layout of gardens is much freer.
The corbel bracket, which is called Dougong in Chinese, is a particular component of Chinese architecture. It is a system of brackets composed of square blocks crossing one another and inserted between the top of a column and a crossbeam. Originally, Dugong was installed at the head of the pillar to connect and support the beam and was used as the very crucial part to extend the roof, and it gradually developed in to a whole layer between the pillars and the roof truss, and then became an important decoration and the representative symbol of Chinese architecture. 
examples of Dougong
In Northern China, the typical colors of buildings are red, green and yellow; theses colorful paint are often applied to bring the liveliness as a balance against the deserted environment, while in Southern areas, the houses are usually painted white and black. This is because of the different circumstance in different regions.
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