Why it looks like this

Between two hills in the centre of Fuzhou survives Sanfang Qixiang — Three Lanes and Seven Alleys — one of China's best-preserved historic street systems, a fishbone of white-walled residences that kept its medieval layout while the city modernized around it.

Fuzhou has been the capital of Fujian for well over a thousand years, a port near the mouth of the Min River. A Song-dynasty governor had banyan trees planted throughout the city in the 11th century; their descendants still shade the streets and give Fuzhou its nickname.