This Former Residence of Hu Xueyan, which lies in Hangzhou City of Zhejiang Province, was built in the 11th year (1872) of the reign of Emperor Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty at enormous expense. It has a total area of 10.8 mu (one mu equals 0.7 ha), and a floor space of 5,815 sq m.

The former residence boasts 13 towers, Zhiyuan Garden, pavilions, terraces, a small bridge over a flowing stream and bright verandas, all ingeniously designed. The rockery in the Zhiyuan Garden is the largest artificial karst cave in China.

The splendid house, an excellent example of late Qing Dynasty architecture, was built using a great quantity of high-grade timber, such as red sandalwood, nanmu, ginkgo, hoop pine and Chinese beech.