Beihai Shuangzi Buildings

Two identical structures stand exactly thirty-two meters apart, holding a precise geometry over the grounds of Beihai No. 1 Middle School. Covering 393 square meters each, the Shuangma—or "Twin"—Buildings mirror one another completely. Their continuous arched corridors wrap around the brick-and-wood facades, filtering the harsh coastal light before it reaches the interior rooms. Underneath the foundations, raised ground beams support suspended wooden floors, an architectural concession designed to keep the subtropical humidity at bay. Inside, brick fireplaces sit dormant, physical remnants of Victorian domestic habits transplanted to the South China coast.

The British erected these exact duplicates in 1886 and 1887 as annexes to their newly established consulate. Following the 1876 Chefoo Convention, Beihai became an open treaty port, drawing eight foreign powers to this specific stretch of the sea. The Shuangma Buildings provided a regulated, symmetrical European living space within an unfamiliar landscape. The four-pitched roofs and uniform arches imposed an aesthetic order, defining a small pocket of the British Empire on foreign soil.

By 1922, the diplomatic mission withdrew and handed the structures to the Anglican Church to house foreign missionaries. The buildings absorbed the quiet routines of religious life until the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War brought a radically different population to the compound. After 1940, the twin buildings functioned as the campus for five different primary and secondary schools. The most remarkable arrival was the Guangzhou Holy Trinity Middle School. Fleeing the Japanese advance, the administration routed the school through Hong Kong before eventually finding asylum in Beihai. The arched verandas became thoroughfares for displaced students maintaining their studies amid global conflict.

Today, the Shuangzi Buildings serve as dormitories for the teachers of the current middle school. The architectural symmetry remains fully intact, anchoring the campus. The thirty-two-meter gap between the structures forms a quiet courtyard where an observer can stand and measure the distance between the city's colonial origins, its wartime resilience, and its steady, educational present.