Any corporate or individual buyer is now allowed full rights to siheyuans, the four-sided enclosed courtyard homes usually seen as a cultural heritage and symbol of traditional civilian culture in China's capital.

The move will help the local government with its efforts to conserve and restore historic sites in quantity in the city, experts say.

According to a document promulgated recently by the municipal land and housing administration, enterprises, social undertakings, governmental departments and individuals in and outside Beijing are allowed to purchase, sell, lease and inherit any of the siheyuans in the city's old downtown areas.

They may also donate or mortgage the siheyuans, the document says.

The buyers will enjoy favorable taxes and charges on land-use right transfer for the siheyuan trade.

Under the new rules, enterprises from abroad or foreigners are also permitted to own a siheyuan with the same preferential treatment as domestic buyers enjoy, unless specified otherwise by laws and regulations.

In the trade, prices will be set under negotiations between buyers and sellers.

With a long history, the siheyuan, as a residential architecture genre, emerged in the early Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) in Beijing.

A small or medium-sized siheyuan usually has its main or only entrance gate built at the southeastern corner of the quadrangle with a screen wall just inside to prevent outsiders from peeping in.

Such a residence offers space, comfort and quiet privacy. It is also good for security as well as protection against dust and storms. Grown with plants and flowers, the courtyard is also a sort of garden.

(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2004)