Beijing Ancient Cliff House

The Ancient Cliff House (Guyaju), 'the biggest maze of China', is an ancient dwelling place on the side of a cliff. It is a study of ancient Chinese people who inhabited the north of the country over a thousand years old.

There are over a hundred rooms connected by stone steps, stone stairs and plank roads. The houses vary in size, from over 20 square meters (24 square yards) to 3-4 square meters (4.5 square yards). Some are interlinked perpendicularly, while some are interconnected horizontally.

Some have a single room, while some have 2-3 connecting rooms. Stone steps, and stone ladders are used to connect the storeys of an entire cliff house. Stone lamp-stands, stone hearths, closets, and mangers in the caves, the windows and gates all remain as traces of their mysterious ancient inhabitants. Some houses were built with kangs, a kind of bed which can be heated from below on cold days.