Wooden collection

[Photo provided to China Daily]

"It's true that ancient houses are not comfortable enough to live in. But we can transform their inner environment to meet modern living standards instead of dismantling them altogether."

Old Chinese architecture is a mix of philosophy, culture and craftsmanship, especially those built in eastern Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, where many rich people and senior officials lived during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. They usually placed a lot of value on house designs.

Qin loves the legendary stores, fairy tales and scenes of daily life engraved on pillars, corbels, windows and doors of the antique houses.

"It will take me months to see just the wood carvings of these old buildings. They are hand-carved by craftsmen. Even two pieces with the same pattern have different detail," Qin says.

While buying houses may be easy, restoring them as close to the original as possible is a challenge.

Chinese wooden houses have to have people living in them, or they will quickly decay, says Qin. That's why he is restoring some of them into hotels where people can experience traditional Chinese architecture.

In Zhu Jiajiao, an ancient town in Shanghai's outskirt, Qin re-assembled a traditional opera stage and a mansion that was built at least 600 years ago, while in Shaoxing, he restored dozens of houses to build a hotel.