What kind of house is called Shikumen

Shikumen is the most characteristic residential building in Shanghai. The old alleys in Shanghai are generally Shikumen buildings, which originated during the Taiping Rebellion. At that time, the war forced wealthy businessmen, landlords and officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to take refuge in the concession, and foreign real estate developers took the opportunity to build a large number of houses. In the twenties and thirties of last century, enclosure was still the main feature of Shanghai housing, but sculpture was not paid attention to, so Shikumen housing combining Chinese and western styles came into being. This kind of building absorbs the style of Jiangnan residential buildings, with stone as the door frame and solid thick wood with black paint as the door leaf, hence the name "Shikumen".