Beijing's Siheyuan is cordial and quiet with a strong flavor of life. The courtyard is square and vast and of a suitable size. The courtyard is planted with flowers and set up with rocks, providing an ideal space for outdoor life, and making it seem to be an open-air large living room, drawing heaven and earth closer to people's hearts and therefore most favored by them. The verandah divides the courtyard into several big and small spaces, which, however, are divided but not distant from each other; instead, they penetrate each other and increase the levels, setting off the void and the solid and the contrast of shadow They also make the courtyard better conform to the standards of daily life. Family members can have an exchange of views here, creating a cordial temperament and interest in life.

In fact, the centripetal and cohesive atmosphere displayed by Beijing's Siheyuan, with strict rules and forms, is precisely a typical expression of the character of most Chinese residences. The courtyard's pattern of being closed to the outside and open to the inside can be regarded as a wise integration of two kinds of contradictory psychology: On the one hand, the self-sufficient feudal families needed to maintain a certain separation from the Outside world; on the other hand, the Psychology deeply-rooted in the mode of agricultural production makes the Chinese particularly like to get closer to nature. They often want to see the heaven, earth, flowers, grass and trees in their own homes.

Turning to residences in the northern region in addition to Beijing, the level of large residences of Shanxi's merchants is very high, their scale even surpassing that of Beijing, and they have more wooden sculpture adornments. These include the large courtyard of the Qiaos', large courtyard of the Qus' inQixianCounty; large courtyard of the Wangs' in Lingshi, large courtyard of the Caos' in Taigu and the residences ofDingcunVillage in Xiangfen.

The square courtyards of an appropriate size of Beijing's Siheyuan are helpful to-take in sunshine in winter. In areas south of Beijing, the setting sun in summer is quite strong, so the courtyards there become narrow and long on the north-south side, so as to reduce the Sunshine. In Gansu, Qinghai and other northwest regions, where a sand-laden wind is very strong, the height of courtyard walls is increased, and the residences are called "Zhuang Ke (Village nest)". The northeast region is extensive, but the weather is cold, so that, in order to take in as much sunshine as possible, the courtyard is broad and large, and there are many open areas inside the courtyard walls.