Shikumen is a traditional Shanghainese architectural style combining Western and Chinese elements that first appeared in the 1860s.
A preserved longdang at the site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, showing the "stone gates" (at left) whence the name shikumen arose.
Renovated shikumen lanes in Xintiandi.
Shikumen buildings in the process of demolition in 2007 – a fate that has befallen many buildings of this type.
A historic photograph of the entrance of a shikumen lane or longdang
A longtang is a lane in Shanghai and, by extension, a community centred on a lane or several interconnected lanes. It is sometimes called lilong ; the latter name incorporates the -li suffix often use
Street entrance to a longtang (Xinxin Li) in Shanghai, just before demolition.
A local policeman in Shanghai conducting a feedback meeting with residents of a lilong in 1964.
Clements Apartments on Rue Lafayette: a different type of longdang lined with slightly later, more westernized apartment buildings