Surrounded: An old gatehouse and surrounding illegal structures

An old paifang completely surrounded by a modern city. It originally stood at an open intersection, but is now squeezed by later buildings: one side is pressed against the gable wall of a five-story apartment building, the other side is an illegally added corrugated iron shed, power lines and cables span overhead, there are transformer boxes and signs nearby, and asphalt pavement and parking spaces are underfoot. The paifang itself is intact but appears cramped; its original viewing distance no longer exists, and one must get very close to see its full extent. There are modern light fixture brackets and cable trays installed on the stone. This encroached state is the true situation of many old paifangs. Avoid: clearing the surrounding environment to restore it to a historical scene, removing power lines and modern facilities, depicting the paifang as a fully protected monument, or having surrounding buildings recede to create space.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

一座被現代都市完全包圍的老牌樓。它原本立在開闊的路口,現在四周被後來的建築擠壓:一側緊貼著一棟五層樓的公寓山牆、另一側是加蓋的鐵皮屋、上方橫跨著電線與電纜、旁邊有變電箱與招牌、腳下是柏油路面與停車格。牌樓本身完好但顯得侷促,原本應有的觀看距離已經不存在,人必須貼得很近才看得到全貌。石材上有現代加裝的燈具支架與線槽。這種被侵蝕的狀態是許多老牌樓的真實處境。避免:把周邊環境清空還原成歷史場景、移除電線與現代設施、把牌樓畫成被完整保護的紀念物、讓周邊建築退開留出空間。