Shu Yejun, an old architect living in an ethnic area in central China's Hunan Province has dedicated most of his life to traditional Miao ethnic architecture.

By the Huayuan River in Huayuan County, hometown of Shu, the summer breeze is spreading a legend between the architect and his hanging-turret buildings along the bank.

The hanging-turret building is a featured ethnic architecture style in southwest China, distinguished with its "flying eaves” that warp high.

But such a wooden architecture has been on the decline since the governmental protection of the woods, and Shu remains one of the last inheritors of the architectural legacy.

"I don't remember how many hanging-turrets I have built in my life, let alone the timbers I consumed," said Shu, pointing sadly to a new cement building by the river, "But lumbering is now banned and my talent finds nowhere to display."

Wearing a traditional Chinese tunic suit, Shu, in his sixties, appears simple and affable.

The old man's gnarled hands full of calluses reveal the 40- year hardship he went through in constructing hanging-turret buildings.

Shu began to apprentice when he was 18 years old. His craft and dedication won him fame in the town.

"He never makes blueprints before building houses," said a town official admiringly, "He has blueprints in his mind."

Shu is also the last person in town who possesses the craft of making flying eaves, which, he said, are the "soul" of hanging- turret buildings.

"The flying eaves are of diverse shapes, such as flower, crest and fish head," he said with great relish, "Young women in the past used to stay home on the top floor. When they watched the Huayuan River by the window and right under the flying eaves, the beauty of the eaves and the charm of the women set off each other perfectly."

"And the eaves function well", added Shu, "they shade the house in the summer and can prevent the spread of fire."

"But the making of flying eaves is rather difficult, with each one weighing more than 100 kilograms, and the craft is dying with the old," he said, "My master passed away last year, leaving me as the only disciple to carry his skill on."

"Though I have a apprentice who was 47 years old, he is fond of cement buildings, paying scarce attention to the old craft," the craftsman said.

It will be a regretful if the skill cannot be handed down. As crystallization of the wisdom of Miao Ethnic Group, hanging-turret buildings are primitively elegant, reflecting the slim firmness and peculiarity of classical Miao architecture.

A marketplace in the town was built by Shu years ago. With a design of "two dragons playing a pearl" engraved on every pillar, the marketplace might be last classical Miao architecture that he contributed to his folks.

"My craft will probably die out, but I am in favor of the woods-protecting policy," Shu said. "The welfare of the future generations is more important than my craft."

"In a hundred years, people who drink tea in the hanging- turret buildings by the river might still think of me," said Shu with a smile.

(Xinhua News Agency 08/05/2001)