Traditional houses in Fuzhou's Sanfang Qixiang neighborhood are usually decorated with colored patterns on protruding eaves. CHINA DAILY

"Our conservation efforts have been progressing. Throughout the process, we have been continuously examining the cultural and architectural landscape of Sanfang Qixiang and clarifying its characteristics and values," Yan says.

For example, one key element, the ma'anqiang, the distinctive saddle-shaped wall typical of historical buildings found in Fujian, has been retained and is widely used in the design of Sanfang Qixiang's buildings.

Adorned with clay sculptures and paintings, the wall gently slopes up symmetrically on either side of a central "pommel", with its protruding upturned corners extending slightly outward, a bit like the eaves of a roof.

More details were added after Yan and his team studied the characteristics of Sanfang Qixiang in historical documents, and selected typical elements to integrate into the design of the ma'anqiang.

For example, the rolling mountain landscape and marine elements of Fuzhou are presented in the form of wavelike lines.

"Now, when looking at Sanfang Qixiang from above, the extending roofs spread out, making for a spectacular scene," Yan says, adding that this view alone might set the area apart from its counterparts across the country.

Yan has a workshop set up in an architectural museum hidden in one of the neighborhood's lanes, and says that most of the buildings had suffered from damage.

A holistic and dynamic sustainable protection and restoration plan has since been implemented, aiming to develop Sanfang Qixiang into a showcase of Ming and Qing architecture, as well as of its significance to modern Chinese history, as some 400 people who deeply influenced the course of the country's early modernization lived there, he explains.